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 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 GCT 1 197S

 
 THE WONDROUS 
 
 TALE OF ALROY. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 THE 
 
 WONDROUS TALE 
 
 OF ALROY. 
 
 THE 
 
 RISE OF ISKANDER. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 VIVIAN GREY/' « CONTARINI FLEMING/' &c. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET. 
 
 1833.
 
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 Sweet Sister ! as 1 wandered on the 
 mountains of Sion, behold ! a gazelle 
 came bounding o'er the hills ! It per- 
 ceived me, it started back, it gazed at me 
 with trembling surprise. Ah ! fear not ! 
 fair creature, I fondly exclaimed, fear 
 not, and flee not away ! I too have a 
 gazelle in a distant land ; not less beau- 
 tiful her airy form than thine, and her 
 dark eye not less tremulously bright ! 
 
 Ah ! little did I deem, my sweetest
 
 VI DEDICATION. 
 
 friend, that ere I pressed that beauteous 
 form again, Sorrow should dim the 
 radiance of thy smile, and charge that 
 brilliant eye with many a tear ! Yet trust 
 thee, dearest, in a brother's love, the purest 
 sympathy of our fallen state ! If I recall 
 one gleam of rapture to thy pensive 
 cheek, not in vain I strike my lonely 
 lyre, or throw these laurels at thy fairy 
 feet!
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The time of this Romance is the twelfth 
 century. 
 
 At that period, this was the political 
 condition of the East. 
 
 The Caliphate was in a state of rapid 
 decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who had 
 been called to the assistance of the Com- 
 manders of the Faithful, had become 
 like the Mayors of the palace in France, 
 the real sovereigns of the Empire. They 
 had carved four kingdoms out of the
 
 yiii PREFACE. 
 
 dominions of the successors of the Pro- 
 phet, which conferred titles on four Sel- 
 jukian Princes, to wit, the Sultan of 
 Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the Sultan 
 of Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or 
 Asia Minor. 
 
 But these warlike princes, in the re- 
 laxed discipline and doubtful conduct of 
 their armies, began themselves to evince 
 the natural effects of luxury and indul- 
 gence. They were no longer the same 
 invincible and irresistible warriors who 
 had poured forth from the shores of the 
 Caspian over the fairest regions of the 
 East, and although they still contrived 
 to preserve order in their dominions, 
 they witnessed with ill-concealed appre-
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 hension the rising power of the Kings of 
 Karasme, whose conquests daily made 
 their territories more contiguous. 
 
 With regard to the Hebrew people, 
 it should be known that after the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, 
 while they acknowledged the supremacy 
 of their conquerors, gathered themselves 
 together for all purposes of jurisdiction, 
 under the controul of a native ruler, an 
 asserted descendant of David, whom 
 they dignified with the title of " The 
 Prince of the Captivity." If we are to 
 credit the enthusiastic annalists of this 
 imaginative people, there were periods of 
 prosperity when " the Princes of the 
 Captivity" assumed scarcely less state, 
 
 a 5
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 and enjoyed scarcely less power than the 
 ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Cer- 
 tain it is that their power increased 
 always in an exact proportion with the 
 weakness of the Caliphate, and without 
 doubt in some of the most distracted 
 periods of the Arabian rule, the He- 
 brew Princes rose into some degree of lo- 
 cal and temporary importance. Their 
 chief residence was Bagdad, where they 
 remained until the eleventh century, 
 an age fatal in Oriental history, and 
 from the disasters of which " the Princes 
 of the Captivity" were not exempt. They 
 are heard of even in the twelfth century. 
 I have ventured to place one at Hama- 
 dan, a favourite residence of the He-
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 brews, from being- the burial-place of 
 Esther and Mordecai. 
 
 In this state of affairs arose Alroy, a 
 name perhaps unknown to the vast ma- 
 jority of my readers ; yet, if I mistake 
 not, a memorable being, and the dry 
 record of whose marvellous career I have 
 long considered as enveloping the richest 
 materials of poetic fiction. 
 
 With regard to the supernatural ma- 
 chinery of this romance, it is Cabalis- 
 tical and correct. From the Spirits of 
 the Tombs to the sceptre of Solomon, 
 authority may be found in the traditions 
 of the Hebrews for all these spiritual 
 introductions. 
 
 I believe that the character of Ori-
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 ental life is not unfaithfully pourtrayed 
 in these pages. It has undergone less 
 changes than the genius of the Occident. 
 I have had the advantage of studying the 
 Asiatics in their most celebrated coun- 
 tries and capitals. An existence of 
 blended splendour and repose, varied 
 only by fitful starts of extravagant and 
 overwhelming action, and marvellous 
 vicissitudes of fortune, a strong influ- 
 ence of individual character, a blind 
 submission to destiny, imagination, pas- 
 sion, credulity : these are some of the 
 principal features of society in the most 
 favoured regions of the globe. 
 
 And now for my style. I must 
 frankly confess that I have invented a
 
 PREFACE. xiii 
 
 new one. I am conscious of the hazard 
 of such innovation, but I have not 
 adopted my system without long medi- 
 tation, and a severe examination of its 
 qualities. I have in another work al- 
 ready ventured to express my opinion 
 that the age of Versification has past. I 
 have there observed, " The mode of 
 composition must ever be greatly deter- 
 mined by the manner in which the com- 
 position can be made public. In an- 
 cient days, the voice was the medium 
 by which we became acquainted with 
 the inventions of a poet. In such a 
 method, where those who listened had 
 no time to pause, and no opportunity to 
 think, it was necessary that everything 
 
 a 7
 
 xiv PREFACE. 
 
 should be obvious. The audience who 
 were perplexed w r ould soon become wea- 
 ried. The spirit of ancient poetry, 
 therefore, is rather material than meta- 
 physical. Superficial, not internal ; there 
 is much simplicity and much nature, 
 but little passion, and less philosophy. 
 To obviate the baldness, which is the 
 consequence of a style where the subject 
 and the sentiments are rather intimated 
 than developed, the poem w T as enriched 
 by music, and enforced by action. Oc- 
 casionally, were added the enchantment 
 of scenery, and the fascination of the 
 dance. But the poet did not depend 
 merely upon these brilliant accessaries. 
 He resolved that his thoughts should be
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 expressed in a manner different from 
 other modes of communicating ideas. 
 He caught a suggestion from his sister 
 art, and invented metre. And in this 
 modulation, he introduced a new system 
 of phraseology, which marked him out 
 from the crowd, and which has obtained 
 the title of ' poetic diction/ 
 
 " His object in this system of words 
 was to heighten his meaning by strange 
 phrases, and unusual constructions. In- 
 version was invented to clothe a com- 
 mon-place with an air of novelty ; vague 
 epithets were introduced to prop up a 
 monotonous modulation; were his mean- 
 ing to be enforced, he shrank from weari- 
 some ratiocination and the agony of pre-
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 cise conceptions, and sought refuge in 
 a bold personification, or a beautiful 
 similitude. The art of Poetry was to 
 express natural feelings in unnatural 
 language. 
 
 " Institutions ever survive their pur- 
 pose, and customs govern us when their 
 cause is extinct. And this mode of com- 
 municating poetic invention still re- 
 mained, when the advanced civilization 
 of man, in multiplying manuscripts, 
 might have made many suspect that the 
 time had arrived when the poet was to 
 cease to sing, and to learn to write. Had 
 the splendid refinement of Imperial Rome 
 not been doomed to such rapid decay, 
 and such mortifying and degrading vicis-
 
 PREFACE. xvii 
 
 situdes, I believe that Versification would 
 have worn out. Unquestionably that 
 empire, in its multifarious population, 
 scenery, creeds, and customs, offered the 
 richest materials for emancipated Fiction, 
 materials, however, far too vast and va- 
 rious for the limited capacity of metrical 
 celebration. 
 
 " That beneficent Omnipotence, before 
 which we must bow down, has so or- 
 dered it, that Imitation should be the 
 mental feature of Modern Europe ; and 
 has ordained that we should adopt a 
 Syrian religion, a Grecian literature, and 
 a Roman law. At the revival of letters, 
 we behold the portentous spectacle of 
 national poets communicating their in-
 
 xviii PREFACE. 
 
 ventions in an exotic form. Conscious 
 of the confined nature of their method, 
 yet unable to extricate themselves from 
 its fatal ties, they sought variety in in- 
 creased artifice of diction, and substi- 
 tuted for the melody of the lyre, the bar- 
 baric clash of rhyme. 
 
 " A revolution took place in the mode 
 of communicating Thought. Now, at 
 least, it was full time that we should have 
 emancipated ourselves for ever from 
 sterile metre. One would have supposed 
 that the Poet who could not only write, 
 but even print his inventions, would have 
 felt that it was both useless and unfit that 
 they should be communicated by a pro- 
 cess invented when his only medium
 
 PREFACE. xix 
 
 was simple recitation. One would have 
 supposed, that the Poet would have 
 rushed with desire to the new world be- 
 fore him, that he would have seized the 
 new means that permitted him to revel 
 in an universe of boundless invention ; 
 to combine the highest ideal creation 
 with the infinite delineation of teeming* 
 Nature ; to unravel all the dark myste- 
 ries of our bosoms, and all the bright 
 purposes of our being ; to become the 
 great instructor and champion of his 
 species ; and not only delight their fancy, 
 and charm their senses, and command 
 their will, but demonstrate their rights, 
 illustrate their necessities, and expound 
 the object of their existence ; and all this
 
 XX PREFACE. 
 
 too in a style charming* and changing 
 with its universal theme, now tender, 
 now sportive; now earnest, now profound ; 
 now sublime, now pathetic ; and substi- 
 tuting for the dull monotony of metre, 
 the most various, and exquisite, and in- 
 exhaustible melody/'* 
 
 While I have endeavoured to effect 
 my own emancipation from the trammels 
 of the old style, I do not for a moment 
 flatter myself that the new one, which I 
 offer, combines those rare qualities which 
 I anticipate may be the ultimate result 
 of this revolution. But such as it is, it 
 stands upon its own merits, and may lead 
 abler men to achieve abler consequences. 
 
 It has been urged by a very ingenious 
 
 * Contarini Fleming, vol. iii.
 
 PREFACE. xxi 
 
 and elegant critic, when commenting, 
 perhaps with the apprehensive indig- 
 nation of a versifier, upon the passage 
 which I have quoted, '.* that the melodies 
 of language are the echoes of the melodies 
 of thought : as in hearing martial music, 
 the step involuntarily takes a statelier 
 tread, as to gayer airs, a lighter and 
 more buoyant one ; so does the elevated 
 idea take a more noble, or the feelings of 
 tenderness a sweeter tone, than those of 
 ordinary discourse." 
 
 I perfectly assent to this remark, 
 which was intended to show " the fal- 
 lacies" of my system. I do not oppose 
 Melody because I oppose Verse. Thoughts 
 are not always melodious, ideas always
 
 XXIV PREFACE. 
 
 the conduct of the story. He has 
 not considered it his duty to step in 
 between the reader and the beings of his 
 imagination, to develope and dwell upon 
 their feelings, or to account for their cha- 
 racters and actions. He leaves them in 
 general to explain every thing for them- 
 selves, substituting on his part Descrip- 
 tion for Scenery, and occasional bursts of 
 lyric melody for that illustrative music, 
 without which all dramatic representa- 
 tions are imperfect, and which renders 
 the serious Opera of the Italians the most 
 effective performance of modern times, 
 and most nearly approaching the exqui- 
 site drama of the ancient Greeks. 
 
 To the Tale of Alroy I have added
 
 PREFACE. XXV 
 
 the history of a Christian hero placed 
 in a somewhat similar position, but 
 achieving a very different end; and I 
 hope the reader will experience the 
 pleasure of an agreeable contrast in the 
 Rise of the great Iskander.
 
 THE WONDROUS 
 
 TALE OF ALROY, 
 
 PART I. 
 
 I. 
 
 The cornets sounded a final flourish as 
 the Prince of the Captivity dismounted 
 from his white mule, his train shouted as 
 if they were once more a people, and 
 had it not been for the contemptuous 
 leer which played upon the countenances 
 of the Moslemin bystanders, it might 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 have been taken for a day of triumph 
 rather than of tribute. 
 
 " The glory has not departed !" ex- 
 claimed the venerable Bostenay, as he 
 entered the hall of his mansion. " It is 
 not as the visit of Sheba unto Solomon ; 
 nevertheless the glory has not yet de- 
 parted. You have done well, faithful 
 Caleb." The old man's courage waxed 
 more vigorous as each step within his 
 own walls the more assured him against 
 the recent causes of his fear — the audible 
 curses and the threatened missiles of the 
 unbelieving mob. 
 
 " It shall be a day of rejoicing and 
 thanksgiving !" continued the Prince ; 
 " and look, my faithful Caleb, that the 
 trumpeters be well served. That last 
 flourish was bravely done. It was not as 
 the blast before Jericho; nevertheless it
 
 OF ALROY. 8 
 
 told that the Lord of Hosts was for us. 
 How the accursed Ishmaelites started ! 
 Did you mark, Caleb, that tall Turk in 
 green upon my left ? By the sceptre of 
 Jacob he turned pale ! Oh ! it shall be a 
 day of rejoicing and thanksgiving ! And 
 spare not the wine, nor the flesh-pots for 
 the people. Look you to this, my child, 
 for the people shouted bravely, and with 
 a stout voice. It was not as the great 
 shout in the camp when the ark returned, 
 but nevertheless, it was boldly done, and 
 showed that the glory had not yet de- 
 parted. So spare not the wine, my son, 
 and drink to the desolation of Ishmael in 
 the juic which he dare not quaff." 
 
 " It has indeed been a great day for 
 Israel !" exclaimed Caleb, echoing his 
 masters exultation. 
 
 " Had the procession been forbidden/' 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 continued Bostenay, " had it been re- 
 served for me of all the princes to have 
 dragged the accursed tribute upon foot, 
 without trumpets and without guards, 
 by this sceptre, my good Caleb, I really 
 think, that sluggishly as this old blood 
 
 now runs, I would but it is needless 
 
 now to talk — the God of our Fathers 
 hath been our refuge." 
 
 " Verily, my lord, we were as David 
 in the wilderness of Ziph ; but now we 
 are as the Lord's anointed in the strong- 
 hold of Engedi ! ,J 
 
 " The glory truly has not yet utterly 
 departed," resumed the Prince in a more 
 subdued tone ; " yet if — I tell you w T hat, 
 Caleb — praise the Lord that you are 
 young." 
 
 " My Prince too may yet live to see 
 the good day."
 
 OF ALROY. 
 
 " Nay, my child, you misinterpret me. 
 Your Prince has lived to see the evil day. 
 'fwas not of the coming that I thought 
 when I bid you praise the Lord because 
 you were young — the more my sin. I 
 was thinking, Caleb, that if your hairs 
 were as mine, if you could call back like 
 me the days that are gone by— the days 
 when it needed no bribe to prove we 
 were princes — the glorious days when we 
 led captivity captive— I was thinking, I 
 say, my son, what a gainful heritage it is 
 to be born after the joys that have passed 
 away." 
 
 " My father lived at Babylon," said 
 Caleb. 
 
 "Oh! name it not ! — name it not!" ex- 
 claimed the old chieftain. " Dark was 
 the day that we lost that second Sion ! 
 We were then also slaves to the Egyp-
 
 6 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 tian ; but verily we ruled over the realm 
 of Pharaoh. Why Caleb, Caleb, you 
 who know all— the days of toil — the nights 
 restless as a love-sick boy's, which it has 
 cost your Prince to gain permission to 
 grace our tribute day with the paltry 
 presence of half a dozen guards — you who 
 know all my difficulties, who have wit- 
 nessed all my mortification, what would 
 you say to the purse of dirhems, sur- 
 rounded by seven thousand scimetars ?" 
 " Seven thousand scimetars !" 
 " Not one less ; my father flourished 
 one." 
 
 " It was indeed a great day for Israel !" 
 
 " Nay, that is nothing. When old 
 
 Alroy was prince— old David Alroy — for 
 
 thirty years, good Caleb — thirty long 
 
 years we paid no tribute to the Caliph." 
 
 " No tribute ! no tribute for thirty
 
 OF ALROY. 7 
 
 years ! What marvel then, my Prince, 
 that the Philistines have of late exacted 
 interest ?" 
 
 " Nay, that is nothing," continued old 
 Bostenay, unmindful of his servant's 
 ejaculations. " When Moctador was Ca- 
 liph, he sent to the same Prince David, 
 to know why the dirhems were not 
 brought up, and David immediately 
 called to horse, and attended by all the 
 chief people rode to the palace, and told 
 the Caliph that tribute was an acknow- 
 ledgment made from the weak to the 
 strong to insure protection and support, 
 and inasmuch as he and his people had 
 garrisoned the city for ten years against 
 the Seljuks, he held the Caliph in arrear." 
 
 " We shall yet see an ass mount a lad- 
 der," 1 exclaimed Caleb with uplifted eyes 
 of wonder.
 
 8 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " It is true though," continued the 
 Prince ; " often have I heard my father 
 tell the tale. He was then a child, and 
 his mother held him up to see the pro- 
 cession return, and all the people shouted, 
 " The sceptre has not gone out of Jacob !" 
 
 c ' It was indeed a great day for Israel." 
 
 " Nay, that is nothing. I could tell you 
 such things ! But we prattle ; our busi- 
 ness is not yet done. You to the people ; 
 the widow and the orphan are waiting. 
 Give freely, good Caleb, give freely ; the 
 spoils of the Canaanite are no longer ours ; 
 nevertheless the Lord is still our God, and 
 after all, even this is a great day for 
 Israel. And, Caleb, Caleb, bid my ne- 
 phew, David Alroy, know that I would 
 speak with him." 
 
 " I will do all promptly, good master ! 
 We wondered that our honoured lord,
 
 OF ALROY. Q 
 
 your nephew, went not up with the dona- 
 tion this day." 
 
 " Who bid you wonder ? Begone, sir! 
 How long- are you to idle here? --Away !" 
 
 " They wonder he went not up with the 
 tribute to-day. Ay ! surely— a common 
 talk. This boy will be our ruin : a pru- 
 dent hand to wield our shattered sceptre. 
 I have observed him from his infancy ; 
 he should have lived in Babylon. The 
 old Alroy blood flows in his veins, a 
 stiff-necked race. When I was a youth 
 his grandsire was my friend ; I had some 
 fancies then myself. Dreams, dreams ! 
 we have fallen on evil days, and yet we 
 prosper I have lived long enough to 
 feel a rich caravan, laden with the shawls 
 of India, and the stuffs of Samarcand, if 
 not exactly like dancing before the ark, 
 is still a goodly sight. And our hard- 
 
 B 5
 
 10 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 hearted rulers, with all their pride, can 
 they subsist without us ? Still we wax 
 rich. I have lived to see the haughty 
 Caliph sink into a slave viler far than 
 Israel. And the victorious and volup- 
 tuous Seljuks, even now they tremble at 
 the dim mention of the distant name of 
 Arslan. Yet I, Bostenay, and the frail 
 remnant of our scattered tribes, still we 
 exist, and still, thanks to our God, we 
 prosper. But the age of power has past ; 
 it is by prudence now that we must 
 flourish. The gibe and jest, the curse, 
 perchance the blow, Israel now must 
 bear, and with a calm, or even smiling 
 visage. What then ? For every gibe 
 and jest, for every curse, I'll have a dir- 
 hem ; and for every blow — let him look 
 to it who is my creditor, or wills to 
 be so. But see, he comes, my nephew !
 
 OF ALROY. 11 
 
 His grandsire was my friend. Methinks 
 I look upon him now; the same Alroy 
 that was the partner of my boyish hours. 
 And yet that fragile form, and girlish 
 face but ill consort with the dark passions, 
 and the dangerous fancies, I fear lie hid- 
 den in that tender breast. Well, sir ?" 
 
 66 You want me, uncle ?" 
 
 " What then ? Uncles often want what 
 nephews seldom offer." 
 
 " I at least can refuse nothing ; for I 
 have nought to give." 
 
 " You have a jewel which I greatly 
 covet." 
 
 " A jewel ! See my chaplet ! You 
 gave it me, my uncle ; it is yours." 
 
 " I thank you. Many a blazing ruby, 
 many a soft and shadowy pearl, and 
 many an emerald glowing like a star in 
 the far desart, I behold, my child. They
 
 12 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 are choice stones, and yet I miss a jewel 
 far more precious, which, when I gave 
 you this rich chaplet, David, I deemed 
 you did possess." 
 
 " How do you call it, sir ?" 
 
 " Obedience." 
 
 "Tis a word of doubtful import, sir; 
 for to obey, when duty is disgrace, is not 
 a virtue." 
 
 " I see you read my thought. In] a 
 word, I sent for you to know, wherefore 
 you joined me not to-day in offering 
 our—" 
 
 " Tribute." 
 
 V Be it so: tribute. Why were you 
 absent ?" 
 
 " Because it was a tribute : I pay 
 none." 
 
 " But that the dreary course of seventy 
 winters has not erased the memory of my
 
 OF ALROY. 13 
 
 boyish follies, David, I should esteem you 
 mad. Think you, because I am old, I 
 am enamoured of disgrace, and love a 
 house of bondage. If life were a mere 
 question between freedom and slavery, 
 glory and dishonor, all could decide. 
 Trust me, there needs but little spirit to 
 be a moody patriot in a sullen home, and 
 vent your heroic spleen upon your fellow- 
 sufferers, whose sufferings you cannot 
 remedy. But of such stuff your race 
 were ever made. Such deliverers ever 
 abounded in the house of Alroy. And 
 what has been the result ? 1 found you, 
 and your sister, orphan infants, your 
 sceptre broken, and your tribes dispersed. 
 The tribute, which now at least we pay 
 like princes, was then exacted with the 
 scourge, and offered in chains. I col- 
 lected our scattered people, I re-esta-
 
 14 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 blished our ancient throne, and this day, 
 which you look upon as a day of hu- 
 miliation, and of mourning, is rightly 
 considered by all a day of triumph, and 
 of feasting; for has it not proved, in the 
 very teeth of the Ishmaelites, that the 
 sceptre has not yet departed from Ja- 
 cob r 
 
 " I pray you, uncle, speak not of these 
 things. I would not willingly forget you 
 are my kinsman, and a kind one. Let 
 there not be strife between us. What 
 my feelings are is nothing. They are my 
 own : I cannot change them. And for 
 my ancestors, if they pondered much, 
 and achieved little, why then 'twould 
 seem our pedigree is pure, and I am their 
 true son. At least one was a hero." 
 
 " Ah ! the great Alroy ; you may well 
 be proud of such an ancestor. ,,
 
 OF ALROY. 15 
 
 " I am ashamed, uncle, — ashamed, 
 ashamed." 
 
 " His sceptre still exists. At least, I 
 have not betrayed him. And this brings 
 me to the real purport of our interview. 
 That sceptre I would return." 
 
 " To whom ?" 
 
 " To its right owner, to yourself." 
 
 " Oh ! no, no, no — I pray you, pray 
 you, uncle, I pray you not. I do en- 
 treat you, Sir, upon my knees, forget I 
 have a right as utterly as I myself dis- 
 claim it. That sceptre — you have wielded 
 it wisely and well ; I do beseech you 
 keep it. Indeed, good uncle, I have no 
 sort of talent for all the busy duties of 
 this post." 
 
 " You sigh for glory, yet you fly from 
 toil." 
 
 " Toil without glory is a menials lot."
 
 16 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " You are a boy ; you may yet live to 
 learn that the sweetest lot of life consists 
 in tranquil duties and well-earned re- 
 pose." 
 
 " If my lot be repose, I'll find it in a 
 lair." 
 
 " Ah ! David, David, there is a wild- 
 ness in your temper, boy, that makes me 
 often tremble. You are already too 
 much alone, child. And for this, as well 
 as weightier reasons, I am desirous that 
 you should at length assume the office 
 you inherit. What my poor experience 
 can afford to aid you, as your counsellor, 
 I shall ever proffer; and for the rest, 
 our God will not desert you, an orphan 
 child, and born of royal blood." 
 
 " Pr'ythee, no more, kind uncle. I 
 have but little heart to mount a throne, 
 which only ranks me as the first of 
 slaves."
 
 OF ALROY. 17 
 
 " Pooh, pooh, you are young. Live 
 we like slaves ? Is this hall a servile 
 chamber ? These costly carpets, and 
 these rich divans, in what proud harem 
 shall we find their match ? I feel not 
 like a slave. My coffers are full of dir- 
 hems. Is that slavish ? The wealthiest 
 company of the caravan is ever Boste- 
 nay's. Is that to be a slave ? Walk the 
 bazaar of Bagdad, and you will find my 
 name more potent than the Caliph's. Is 
 that a badge of slavery ?" 
 
 " Uncle, you toil for others." 
 
 " So do we all, so does the bee, yet he 
 is free and happy." 
 
 " At least he has a sting." 
 
 " Which he can use but once ; and 
 when he stings " 
 
 " He dies, and like a hero. Such a 
 death is sweeter than his honey."
 
 18 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Well, well, you are young, you are 
 young. I once, too, had fancies. Dreams 
 all, dreams all. I willingly would see 
 you happy, child. Come, let that face 
 brighten ; after all, to-day is a great day. 
 If you had seen what I have seen, David, 
 you too would feel grateful. Come, let us 
 feast, let us feast. The Ishmaelite, the ac- 
 cursed child of Hagar, he does confess 
 to-day you are a prince : this day also 
 you complete your eighteenth year. The 
 custom of our people now requires you 
 should assume the attributes of manhood. 
 To-day, then, your reign commences ; 
 and at our festival I will present the 
 elders to their prince. For a while fare- 
 well, my child. Array that face in 
 smiles. I shall most anxiously await 
 your presence." 
 
 " Farewell, Sir."
 
 OF ALROY. 19 
 
 He turned his head and watched his 
 uncle as he departed ; the bitter expres- 
 sion of his countenance gradually melted 
 away as Bostenay disappeared ; dejection 
 succeeded to sarcasm ; he sighed, he threw 
 himself upon a couch, and buried his 
 face in his hands. 
 
 Suddenly he arose, and paced the 
 chamber with an irregular and moody 
 step. He stopped, he leant against a 
 column. He spoke in a tremulous and 
 smothered voice. 
 
 " Oh ! my heart is full of care, and my 
 soul is dark with sorrow ! What am I ? 
 What is all this ? A cloud hangs heavy 
 o'er my life. God of my fathers ! let it 
 burst. 
 
 " I know not what I feel — yet what I 
 feel is madness. Thus to be, is not to 
 live, if life be what I sometimes dream,
 
 20 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 and dare to think it might be. To 
 breathe, to feed, to sleep, to wake and 
 breathe again — again to feel existence 
 without hope ; if this be life, why then 
 these brooding thoughts that whisper 
 death were better ? 
 
 " Away ! away ! The demon tempts 
 me. But to what, to what ? What name- 
 less deed shall desecrate this hand ? No, 
 no, it must not be : the royal blood of 
 twice two thousand years it must not 
 die — die like a dream. Oh! my heart is 
 full of care, and my soul is dark with 
 sorrow ! 
 
 " Hark ! the trumpets that sound our 
 dishonor. Oh ! but that they sounded 
 to battle ! Lord of Hosts ! Let me con- 
 quer or die ! Let me conquer like David, 
 or die, Lord, like Saul. 
 
 if Ah ! were I in the woods once more,
 
 OF ALROY. 21 
 
 a melancholy child ! Each flower, that 
 raised its haughty head, should be the 
 turbaned enemy, and I would wave some 
 sword of straw, and find revenge in 
 every blow, that quelled their painted 
 pride. 
 
 " Tis over now ; that sweet, sweet 
 prime, when fancy solaced solitude. Yet 
 I am still alone. But how alone ? The 
 madness of the past and the despair of 
 the future — are not these the choice com- 
 panions of my pleasant life ? 
 
 " I once remember, when a child, I 
 cried to be a man — and now, methinks, 
 I'll sit me down and cry to be a child. 
 Ah ! tears of bliss, though shed in sad- 
 ness, unutterable joys ! No more the 
 sunshine of the breast succeeds those 
 freshening showers of grief; light season 
 of my boyish spring, when Care was but
 
 22 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 a mimic game, and Woe a wild delu- 
 sion ! 
 
 6 ' Behold this chaplet rich and rare ; 
 its stones might deck a soldan's brow ! 
 Could 1 but weep, for each bright tear I'd 
 give a flaming gem ; could I but weep 
 for each soft sob, Fd yield a lustrous 
 pearl. Alas ! the age of tears is o'er, and 
 yet — my heart is full of care, and my soul 
 is dark with sorrow. 
 
 " Why do I live ? Ah ! could the 
 thought that lurks within my secret 
 heart but answer — not the trumpet's blast 
 when echoing on the noisy hills, could 
 speak as loud or clear. The votary of a 
 false idea, I linger in this shadowy life, 
 and feed on silent images which no eye but 
 mine can gaze on, until, at length, they 
 are invested with all the terrible circum- 
 stance of life, and breathe, and act, and
 
 OF ALROY. 23 
 
 form a stirring- world of fate and beauty, 
 time, and death, and glory. And then 
 from out this dazzling wilderness of deeds 
 I wander forth and wake, and find myself 
 in this dull house of bondage, even as I 
 do now. Horrible ! horrible ! 
 
 " God of my fathers ! — for indeed I 
 dare not style thee God of their wretched 
 sons — yet by the memory of Sinai let 
 me tell thee that some of the antique 
 blood yet beats within these pulses, and 
 there yet is one who fain would com- 
 mune with thee face to face — commune 
 and conquer. 
 
 " And if the promise unto which we 
 cling be not a cheat, why let him come, 
 come, and come quickly, for thy servant 
 Israel, Lord, is now a slave so infamous, 
 so woe-begone, and so contemned, that 
 even when our fathers hung their harps
 
 24 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 by the sad waters of the Babylonian 
 stream, why, it were Paradise again to 
 what we suffer. 
 
 " Alas ! they do not suffer ; they en- 
 dure and do not feel. Or by this time 
 our shadowy cherubim would guard again 
 the ark. It is the will that is the father 
 to the deed, and he who broods over some 
 long idea, however wild, will find his 
 dream was but the prophecy of coming 
 fate. 
 
 " And even now a vivid flash darts 
 through the darkness of my mind — me- 
 thinks, methinks— Ah ! worst of woes to 
 dream of glory in despair. No, no, I 
 live and die a most ignoble thing ; beauty 
 and love, and fame and mighty deeds, 
 the smile of women and the gaze of men, 
 and the ennobling consciousness of worth, 
 and all the fiery course of the creative
 
 OF ALROY. 25 
 
 passions — these are not for me — and I, 
 Alroy, the long posterity of sacred kings, 
 and with a soul that pants for empire, I 
 stand here extending my vain arm for 
 my lost sceptre, a most dishonoured slave ! 
 And do I still exist ? Exist ! ay, merrily. 
 Hark ! Festivity holds her fair revel in 
 these light-hearted walls. We are gay 
 to-day ; and yet ere yon proud Sun, 
 whose mighty course was stayed before 
 our swords that now he even does not 
 deign to shine upon : ere yon proud Sun 
 shall, like a hero from a glorious field, 
 enter the bright pavilion of his rest ; there 
 shall a deed be done. 
 
 ic My fathers, my heroic fathers, if this 
 feeble arm cannot redeem thy heritage, 
 if the foul boar must still wallow in thy 
 sweet vineyard, Israel, at least I'll not 
 disgrace ye. No ! let me perish. The 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 gQ THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 house of David is no more : no more our 
 sacred seed shall lurk and linger, like a 
 blighted thing, in this degenerate earth. 
 If we cannot flourish, why then well 
 
 die !" 
 
 " Oh ! say not so, my brother !" 
 A voice broke on the air, so soft, so 
 sweet, so wildly musical — it sounded like 
 a holy bell upon a summer day, a holy 
 bell that calls to prayer, and stills each 
 fierce emotion. 
 
 And softly kneeling at his side behold 
 a female form ! Her face is hid, her lips 
 are pressed against the hand she gently 
 steals. And now she raises up her head, 
 and waits with tender patience for a 
 glance from one who seldom smiles. 
 M Oh ! say not so, my brother !" 
 He turns, he gazes on a face beauteous 
 as a starry night, — a starry night in those
 
 OF ALROY. 27 
 
 far climes where not a cloud is marked in 
 heaven, when all below on earth 's so 
 sweet, and all above in air so still, that 
 every passion melts away, and life seems 
 but a fragrant dream. 
 
 I too have wandered in those lands, 
 and roamed mid Jordan's vocal bowers. 
 Ah ! could the nightingale that sang to 
 Syria's rose now sing to me, I'd give the 
 fame of coming years to listen to that 
 lay! 
 
 He turns, he gazes, and he bends ; his 
 heart is full, his voice is low. 
 
 " Ah, Miriam: thou queller of dark 
 spirits ! is it thou ? Why art thou 
 here ?" 
 
 u Why am I here ? Are you not here ? 
 and need I urge a stronger plea ? Oh ! 
 brother dear, I pray you come, and min- 
 gle in our festival ! Our walls are hung 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 with flowers you love ; 2 I culled them by 
 the fountain's side ; the holy lamps are 
 trimmed and set, and you must raise their 
 earliest flame. Without the gate, my 
 maidens wait, to offer you a robe of state. 
 Then, brother dear, I pray you come and 
 mingle in our festival." 
 
 " Why should we feast ?" 
 
 " Ah ! is it not in thy dear name these 
 lamps are lit, these garlands hung ? To- 
 day to us a prince is given, to-day — " 
 
 " A prince without a kingdom." 
 
 " But not without that which makes 
 kingdoms precious, and which full many 
 a royal heart has sighed for — willing sub- 
 jects, David." 
 
 " Slaves, Miriam, fellow-slaves." 
 
 " What we are, my brother, our God 
 has willed ; and let us bow and tremble." 
 
 " I will not bow, I cannot tremble."
 
 OF ALROY. 29 
 
 " Hush, David, hush ! It was this 
 haughty spirit that called the vengeance 
 of the Lord upon us." 
 
 * It was this haughty spirit that con- 
 quered Canaan/' 
 
 "Oh ! my brother, my dear, dear bro- 
 ther ! they told me the dark spirit had 
 fallen on thee, and I came, and hoped thy 
 Miriam might have charmed it. What 
 we have been, Alroy, is a bright dream ; 
 and what we may be, at least as bright a 
 hope ; and for what we are, thou art my 
 brother. In thy love I find present feli- 
 city, and value more thy chance embraces 
 and thy scanty smiles, than all the va- 
 nished splendour of our race, our gorgeous 
 gardens, and our glittering halls." 
 
 M Who waits without there ?" 
 
 << Caleb." 
 
 " Caleb ?" 
 
 " My Lord."
 
 30 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Go tell my uncle, I presently will 
 join the banquet. Leave me a moment, 
 clearest. I'll soon be with thee. Nay, 
 dry those tears, my life, or let me stop 
 them with a soft kiss." 
 
 " Oh, Alroy, they are not tears of sor- 
 row !" 
 
 " God be with, thee, angel ; fare thee 
 well, though but for a moment. Thou 
 art the charm and consolation of my 
 life. Farewell, farewell. 
 
 " I do observe the influence of women 
 very potent over me. 'Tis not of such 
 stuff that they make heroes. I know not 
 love, save that pure affection that does 
 subsist between me and this girl : an or- 
 phan and my sister. We are so alike, 
 that when, last Passover, in mimickry, 
 she twined my turban round her graceful 
 head, our uncle called her David. 
 
 " The daughters of my tribe, they 

 
 OF ALROY. 31 
 
 please me not, though they are passing 
 fair. Were our sons as brave as they are 
 beautiful, we still might dance on Sion. 
 Yet have I often thought, that could I 
 pillow this moody brow upon some snowy 
 bosom that were my own, and dwell in 
 the wilderness, far from the sight and ken 
 of man, and all the care and toil and 
 wretchedness, that groan and sweat and 
 sigh about me, I might haply lose this 
 deep sensation of o'erwhelming woe, that 
 broods upon my being. No matter : Life 
 is but a dream, and mine must be a dull 
 one/' 
 
 II. 
 
 Without the gates of Hamadan, a very 
 short distance from the citv, was an en-
 
 32 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 closed piece of elevated ground, in the 
 centre of which rose an ancient sepulchre, 
 the traditionary tomb of Esther and Mor- 
 decai. 3 This solemn and solitary spot was 
 an accustomed haunt of Alroy, and thi- 
 ther escaping from the banquet, about an 
 hour before sunset, he this day repaired. 
 
 As he unlocked the massy gate of the 
 burial-place, he heard behind him the 
 trampling of a horse ; and before he had 
 again secured the entrance, some one 
 shouted to him. 
 
 He looked up, and recognized the 
 youthful and voluptuous Alschiroch, the 
 governor of the city, and brother of the 
 Sultan of the Seljuks. He was attended 
 only by a single running footman, an 
 Arab, a detested favourite, and notorious 
 minister of his pleasures. 
 
 "Dog!" exclaimed the irritated Al-
 
 OF ALROY. 33 
 
 schiroch, " art thou deaf, or obstinate ? or 
 both ? Are we to call twice to our slaves ? 
 Unlock that gate!" 
 
 u Wherefore ?" inquired Alroy. 
 
 " Wherefore! By the holy prophet, 
 he bandies questions with us. Unlock 
 that gate, or thy head shall answer for it !" 
 
 " Who art thou," inquired Alroy, 
 " whose voice is so loud ? Art thou some 
 holiday Turk, who hath transgressed the 
 orders of thy prophet and drunken aught 
 but water ? Go to, or I will summon thee 
 before thy Cadi ;" and so saying, he 
 turned towards the tomb. 
 
 " By the eyes of my mother, the dog 
 jeers us. But that we are already late, 
 and this horse is like an untamed tiger, 
 I would impale him on the spot. Speak 
 to the dog, Mustapha ! manage him ! " 
 
 " Worthy Hebrew/' said the silky 
 
 c 5
 
 34f THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Mustapha, advancing, " apparently you 
 are not aware that this is our Lord Al- 
 schiroch. His Highness would fain walk 
 his horse through the burial-ground of 
 thy excellent people, as he is obliged to 
 repair, on urgent matters, to a holy San- 
 ton, who sojourns on the other side of the 
 hill, and time presses." 
 
 " If this be our Lord Alschiroch, thou 
 doubtless art his faithful slave, Mustapha." 
 
 " I am, indeed, his poor slave. What 
 then, young master ?" 
 
 " Deem thyself lucky that the gate is 
 closed. It was but yesterday thou didst 
 insult the sister of a servant of my house. 
 I would not willingly sully my hands 
 with such miserable blood as thine — but 
 away, wretch, away ! " 
 
 " Holy Prophet ! who is this dog ?" ex- 
 claimed the astonished governor. 
 
 " Tis the young Alroy," whispered
 
 OF ALROY 35 
 
 Mustapha, who had not at first recognized 
 him, " he they call their prince : a most 
 headstrong youth. My Lord, we had 
 better proceed." 
 
 " The young Alroy ! I mark him. 
 They must have a prince too ! The young 
 Alroy ! Well, let us away, — and, dog !" 
 shouted Alschiroch, rising in his stirrups 
 and shaking his hand with a threatening 
 air, " dog ! remember thy tribute !" 
 
 Alroy rushed to the gate, but the massy 
 lock was slow to open ; and ere he could 
 succeed, the fiery steed had borne Alschi- 
 roch beyond pursuit. 
 
 An expression of baffled rage remained 
 for a moment on his countenance ; for a 
 moment he remained with his eager eye 
 fixed on the route of his vanished enemy, 
 and then he walked slowly towards the 
 tomb ; but his excited temper was now
 
 36 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 little in unison with the still reverie in 
 which he had repaired to the sepulchre 
 to indulge. He was restless and dis- 
 quieted, and at length he wandered into 
 the woods, which rose on the summit of 
 the burial-place. 
 
 He found himself at length upon a 
 brow, crested with young pine-trees, in 
 the midst of which rose a mighty cedar. 
 He threw himself underneath its thick 
 and shadowy branches, and looked upon 
 a valley small and green ; in the midst of 
 which was a marble fountain, the richly 
 carved cupola, 4 supported by twisted co- 
 lumns, and banded by a broad inscription 
 in Hebrew characters. The bases of the 
 white pillars were covered with wild 
 flowers, or hidden by beds of variegated 
 gourds. The transparent sunset flung 
 over the whole scene a soft, but brilliant 
 light.
 
 OF ALROY. 37 
 
 The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, 
 the sweetness and the stillness blending 
 their odour and serenity, the gentle 
 breeze that softly rose, and summoned 
 forth the languid birds, to cool their 
 plumage in the twilight air, and waive 
 
 their radiant wings in skies as bright 
 
 Ah ! what stern spirit will not yield to 
 the soft genius of subduing Eve ! 
 
 And Alroy gazed upon the beauteous 
 loneliness of earth, and a tear stole down 
 his haughty cheek. 
 
 " Tis singular ! but when I am thus 
 alone at this still hour, I ever fancy I 
 gaze upon the Land of Promise. And 
 often in my dreams, some sunny spot, the 
 bright memorial of a roving hour, will 
 rise upon my sight, and when I wake, I 
 feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why 
 am I not ? The caravan that bears my 
 uncle's goods across the desart would bear
 
 38 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 me too. But I rest here, my miserable 
 life running to seed in the dull misery of 
 this wretched city, and do nothing. 
 Why ! the old captivity was empire to 
 our inglorious bondage. We have no 
 Esther now to share their thrones, no po- 
 litic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. 
 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! I do believe 
 one sight of thee would nerve me to the 
 sticking point. And yet to gaze upon 
 thy fallen state — my uncle tells me that 
 of the Temple not a stone remains. Tis 
 horrible. Is there no hope ?" 
 
 " The bricks are fallen, but we 
 will rebtiild with marble ; the sy- 
 camores are cut down, but we will 
 replace them with cedars" 
 " The chorus of our maidens, as they 
 pay their evening visit to the fountain's 
 side. 5 The burthen is prophetic. 
 
 " Hark again ! How beautifully, upon
 
 OF ALROY. 39 
 
 the soft and flowing air, their sweet and 
 mingled voices blend and float I" 
 
 " Yet again I will build thee, 
 and thou shalt be built, O Virgin 
 of Israel ! Yet again shalt thou 
 deck thyself with thy tabrets, and 
 go forth in the dance of those that 
 make merry. Yet again shalt 
 thou plant vineyards on the moun- 
 tains of Satnaria." 
 " See ! their white forms break through 
 the sparkling foliage of the sunny shrubs 
 as they descend, with measured step, that 
 mild acclivity. A fair society in bright 
 procession : each one clothed in solemn 
 drapery, veiling her shadowy face with 
 modest hand, and bearing on her grace- 
 ful head a graceful vase. Their leader is 
 my sister. 
 
 " And now they reach the fountain
 
 40 THE WONDROUS. TALE 
 
 side, and dip their vases in the water, 
 pure and beauteous as themselves. Some 
 repose beneath the marble pillars ; some, 
 seated 'mid the flowers, gather sweets, 
 and twine them into garlands ; and that 
 wild girl, now that the order *s broke, 
 touches with light fingers her moist vase, 
 and showers startling drops of glittering 
 light on her serener sisters. Hark! again 
 they sing." 
 
 " O vine of Sibmah ! upon 
 thy summer fruits, and upon thy 
 vintage, a spoiler hath fallen ! 
 
 A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, 
 confusion, flight, despair ! Behold ! from 
 out the woods a turbaned man rushes, 
 and seizes the leader of the chorus. Her 
 companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone 
 is left in the arms of Alschiroch. 
 
 The water column wildly rising, from
 
 OF ALROY. 41 
 
 the breast of summer ocean, in some warm 
 tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too 
 well discover, the holiday of heaven is 
 over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a 
 time of fierce commotion, the column 
 rising* from the sea, it was not as wild as 
 he — the young Alroy. 
 
 Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, 
 and he tore up a tree by its lusty roots, 
 and down the declivity, dashing with 
 rapid leaps, panting and wild, he struck 
 the ravisher on the temple with the 
 mighty pine. Alschiroch fell lifeless on 
 the sod, and Miriam fainting into her 
 brother's arms. 
 
 And there he stood, fixed and immov- 
 able, gazing upon his sister's deathly face, 
 and himself exhausted by passion and his 
 exploit, supporting her cherished, but 
 senseless, body.
 
 42 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 One of the fugitive maidens appeared 
 reconnoitering in the distance. When 
 she observed her mistress in the arms of 
 one of her own people, her courage re- 
 vived, and desirous of rallying her scat- 
 tered companions, she raised her voice, 
 and sang : 
 
 " Haste, daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem, O ! haste, for the Lord has 
 avenged us, and the spoiler is 
 spoiled" 
 And soon the verse was responded to 
 from various quarters of the woods., and 
 soon the virgins re-assembled, singing, 
 " We come, O ! daughter of 
 Jerusalem, we come; for the Lord 
 has avenged us, and the spoiler is 
 spoiled" 
 They gathered round their mistress, 
 and one loosened her veil, and another
 
 OF ALROY. 43 
 
 brought water from the fountain, and 
 sprinkled her reviving countenance. And 
 Miriam opened her eyes, and said, " My 
 brother !" And he answered, " I am 
 here." And she replied, in a low voice, 
 " Fly, David, fly, for the man you have 
 stricken is a prince among the people." 
 
 " He will be merciful, my sister ; and, 
 doubtless, since he first erred, by this 
 time he has forgotten my offence." 
 
 " Justice and mercy ; Oh, my brother, 
 what can these foul tyrants know of 
 either ! Already he has perhaps doomed 
 you to some refined and procrastinated 
 torture, already — Ah ! what unutterable 
 woe is mine — fly, my brother, fly !" 
 " Fly, fly, fly /" 
 
 " There is no fear, my Miriam ; would 
 all his accursed race could trouble us as 
 little as their sometime ruler. See, he
 
 44 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 sleeps soundly. But his carcass shall not 
 defile our fresh fountain, and our fragrant 
 flowers. Ill stow it in the woods, and 
 stroll here at night to listen to the jackals 
 at their banquet. " 
 
 " You speak wildly, David. What ! 
 No ! It is impossible ! He is not dead ! 
 You have not slain him ! He sleeps — 
 he is afraid. He mimics death, that we 
 may leave his side and he may rise again 
 in safety. Girls, look to him. David, you 
 do not answer. Brother, dear, dear bro- 
 ther : surely he has swooned. I thought 
 he had fled. Bear water, maidens, to 
 that terrible man. I dare not look upon 
 him." 
 
 " Away ! I'll look upon him, and I'll 
 triumph. Dead ! Alschiroch dead ! Why ! 
 but a moment since, this clotted carcass 
 was a Prince, my tyrant. So we can rid
 
 OF ALROY. 45 
 
 ourselves of them, eh ? If the Prince 
 fall, why not the people ? Dead, abso- 
 lutely dead, and I his slayer. Hah ! at 
 length I am a man. This, this indeed is 
 life. Let me live slaying !" 
 
 " Woe ! woe ! our house is fallen ! 
 The wiidness of his gestures frightens 
 me. David, David, I pray thee cease. 
 He hears me not, my voice, perchance, is 
 thin. I'm very faint. Maidens, kneel 
 to vour Prince, and soothe the madness 
 of his passion." 
 
 " Sweet is the voice of a sister 
 in the season of sorrow, and wise 
 is the counsel of those who love us." 
 " Why, this is my Goliath ! a pebble 
 or a stick, it is the same. The Lord of 
 Hosts is for us. Ri^htlv am I called 
 David." 
 
 " Deliver us from our enemies,
 
 46 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 O Lord ! from those who rise up 
 against us, and those who lie in 
 wait for us" 
 
 " Were but this blow multiplied, were 
 but the servants of my uncle's house to 
 do the same, why we should see again the 
 days of Elah ! The Philistine, the foul, 
 lascivious, damnable, Philistine ; and he 
 must touch my sister. Oh that all his 
 tribe were here, all, all ! I'd tie such 
 firebrands to their foxes tails, the blaze 
 should light to freedom !" 
 
 While he spoke, a maiden, who had 
 not yet rejoined the company, came run- 
 ning towards them very swiftly with an 
 agitated countenance. 
 
 " Fly, fly," she exclaimed ; " they 
 come, they come/' 
 
 Miriam was reclining in an attendant's 
 arms, feeble and faint, but the moment
 
 OF ALROY. 47 
 
 her quick ear caught these words, she 
 sprang* up, and seized her brother's arm. 
 
 "Alroy ! David, David, brother, sweet, 
 sweet brother. I beseech thee, listen — I 
 am thy sister, thy Miriam, thy fond be- 
 loved Miriam; — they come, they come, 
 the hard-hearted, wicked men, they come, 
 they come, to kill, perhaps to torture 
 thee, my tender brother. Eouse thyself, 
 David, rouse thyself from this wild, fierce 
 dream : save thyself — fly !" 
 
 " Ah ! is it thou, Miriam ? Be easy, 
 love, thou seest he sleepeth soundly. I 
 will collect my senses. I was dreaming 
 of noble purposes and mighty hopes. 
 'Tis over now. I am myself again. 
 What would'st thou, my sweet treasure ?" 
 
 " They come, the fierce retainers of 
 this fallen man : they come to seize thee. 
 Fly, David."
 
 48 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " And leave thee ?" 
 
 " I and my maidens, we have yet time 
 to escape by the private way we entered, 
 our uncle's garden. When in his house, 
 we are for a moment safe — as safe as our 
 poor race can ever be. Bostenay is so 
 rich, so wise, so prudent, so learned in 
 man's ways, and knows so well the cha- 
 racter and spirit of these men, all will 
 go right : I fear nothing, nothing, nothing. 
 But thou, if thou art here, or to be found, 
 thy blood alone will satiate them. If 
 they be persuaded that thou hast escaped, 
 as I yet pray thou mayest, their late 
 master here, whom they could scarcely 
 love, why give me thy arm an in- 
 stant, sweet Beruna, I am rather faint. 
 So, that's well. I was saying, if well 
 bribed, and they may have all my jewels, 
 why, very soon, he will be as little in
 
 OF ALROY. 49 
 
 their memories, as he is now in life. I 
 can scarcely speak — I feel my words 
 wander, or seem to wander ; I could 
 swoon, but will not — nay ! do not fear, 
 my love, I will reach home. These 
 maidens are my charge. Tis in these 
 crises we should show the worth of 
 royal blood. Ill see them safe — or die 
 with them." 
 
 " Oh ! my sister, methinks I never 
 knew I was a brother until this hour. 
 My precious Miriam, what is life ? what 
 is revenge, or even fame and freedom, 
 without thee ? I '11 stay." 
 
 " Sweet is the voice of a sister 
 in the season of sorrow, and wise is 
 the counsel of those who love us." 
 
 " Fly, David, fly." 
 
 " Fly ! whither, and how ?" 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 The neigh of a horse sounded from the 
 thicket. 
 
 " Ah ! they come, they come !" ex- 
 claimed the distracted Miriam. 
 
 "All this has come upon us,0 
 Lord, yet have we not forgotten 
 thee, neither have we dealt falsely 
 in thy covenant." 
 " Hark ! again it neighs ! It is a 
 horse that calleth to its rider. I see it, 
 I see it. Courage, Miriam ! it is no 
 enemy, but a very present friend in time 
 of trouble. It is Alschiroch's courser. 
 He passed me on it by the tomb ere sun- 
 set. I marked it well — a very princely 
 steed." 
 
 " Behold, behold, a ram is 
 caught in the thicket by his horns" 
 " Our God hath not forgotten us ! 
 Quick, maidens, bring forth the goodly
 
 OF ALROY. 51 
 
 steed. What ! do you tremble ? I'll be 
 his groom." 
 
 " Nay ! Miriam, beware, beware. It 
 is an untamed beast, wild as the whirl- 
 wind. Let me deal with him." 
 
 He ran after her, kissed her as he 
 passed, dashed into the thicket, and 
 brought forth the horse. 
 
 Short time I ween that stately steed 
 had parted from his desart home ; his 
 haughty crest, his eye of fire, the glory 
 of his snorting nostril, betokened well his 
 conscious pride, and pure nobility of race. 
 His colour was like the sable night shin- 
 ing with a thousand stars, and he pawed 
 the ground with his delicate hoof, like an 
 eagle flapping its wing. 
 
 Alroy vaulted on his back, and reined 
 him with a master's hand. 
 
 " Hah !" he exclaimed, " I feel more 
 
 D 2 
 
 LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLP
 
 52 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 like a hero than a fugitive. Farewell, 
 my sister ; farewell, ye gentle maidens ; 
 fare ye well, and cherish my precious 
 Miriam. One kiss, sweet sister," and he 
 bent down and whispered, " Tell the 
 good Bostenay not to spare his gold, love, 
 for I have a deep persuasion, that ere a 
 year shall roll its heavy course, I shall 
 return, and make our masters here pay 
 for this hurried ride and bitter parting. 
 Now for the desart !"
 
 OF ALROY. 53 
 
 PART II. 
 
 I. 
 
 Speed, fleetly speed, thou courser bold, 
 and track the desart's trackless way. 
 Beneath thee is the boundless earth, 
 above thee is the boundless heaven, an 
 iron soil and brazen sky. Speed, swiftly 
 speed, thou courser bold, and track the 
 desart's trackless way ! 
 
 Ah ! dost thou deem these salty plains 6 
 lead to thy Yemen's happy groves, and 
 dost thou scent, on the hot breeze, the 
 spicy breath of Araby ? A sweet delu- 
 sion, noble steed, for this briny wilder- 

 
 54 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 ness leads not to the happy groves of 
 Yemen, and the breath thou scentest on 
 the coming breeze is not the spicy breath 
 of Araby. 
 
 The day has died, the stars have risen, 
 with all the splendour of a desart sky, 
 and now the Night descending brings, 
 solace on her dewy wings, to the fainting 
 form and pallid cheek of the youthful 
 Hebrew Prince. 
 
 Still the courser onward rushes, still 
 his mighty heart supports him. Season 
 and space, the glowing soil, the burning 
 ray, yield to the tempest of his frame ; 
 the thunder of his nerves, and lightning 
 of his veins. 
 
 Food or water they have none. No 
 genial fount, no grateful tree, rise with 
 their pleasant company. Never a beast 
 or bird is there, in that hoary desart
 
 OF ALROY. 55 
 
 bare. Nothing breaks the almighty still- 
 ness. Even the jackal's felon cry might 
 seem a soothing melody. A grey wild 
 rat, with snowy whiskers, out of a 
 withered bramble stealing, with a youth- 
 ful snake in its ivory teeth, in the moon- 
 light grins with glee. This is their sole 
 society. 
 
 Morn comes, the fresh and fragrant 
 morn, for which even the guilty sigh. 
 Morn comes, and all is visible. And 
 light falls like a signet on the earth, and 
 its face is turned like wax with a seal. 
 Before them, and also on their right, was 
 the sandy desart ; but in the night they 
 had approached much nearer to the 
 mountainous chain, which bounded the 
 desart on the left, and whither Alroy had 
 at first guided the steed. 
 
 The mountains were a chain of the
 
 56 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 mighty Elburz ; and as the sun rose from 
 behind a lofty peak, the horse suddenly 
 stopped, and neighed, as if asking for 
 water. But Alroy, himself exhausted, 
 could only soothe him with caresses. 
 And the horse, full of courage, under- 
 stood his master, and neighed again more 
 cheerfully. 
 
 For an hour or two the Prince and his 
 faithful companion proceeded slowly, but 
 as the day grew on, the heat became so 
 oppressive, and the desire to drink so 
 overwhelming, that Alroy again urged 
 on the steed towards the mountains, 
 where he knew that he should find a 
 well. The courser dashed willingly for- 
 ward, and seemed to share his master's 
 desire to quit the arid and exhausting 
 wilderness. 
 
 More than once the unhappy fugitive
 
 OF ALROY. 57 
 
 debated whether he should not allow him- 
 self to drop from his seat and die ; no 
 torture that awaited him at Hamadan, 
 that did not seem preferable to the pro- 
 longed and inexpressible anguish that he 
 now endured. As he rushed along, lean- 
 ing on his bearer's neck, he perceived a 
 patch of the desart that seemed of a 
 darker colour than the surrounding sand. 
 Here, he believed, might perhaps be 
 found water. He tried to check the 
 steed, but with difficulty he succeeded, and 
 with still greater difficulty dismounted. 
 He knelt down, and feebly raked up the 
 sand with his hands. It was very moist. 
 He nearly fainted over his fruitless 
 labour. At length, when he had dug 
 about a foot deep, there bubbled up some 
 water. He dashed in his hand, but it 
 was salt as the ocean. When the horse 
 
 D 5
 
 58 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 saw the water his ears rose, but when he 
 smelt it, he turned away his head and 
 neighed most piteously. 
 
 " Alas, poor beast !" exclaimed Alroy ; 
 " I am the occasion of thy suffering, who 
 would be a kind master to thee, if the 
 world would let me. Oh that we were 
 once more by my own fair fountain ! The 
 thought is madness. And Miriam too ! 
 I fear I am sadly tender-hearted/' He 
 leant against his horse's back, with a feel- 
 ing of utter exhaustion, and burst into 
 hysteric sobs. 
 
 And the steed softly moaned, and 
 turned its head, and gently rubbed its 
 face against his arm, as if to solace 
 him in his suffering. And strange, but 
 Alroy was relieved by having given way 
 to his emotion, and charmed with the 
 fondness of the faithful horse, he leant
 
 OF ALROY. ,59 
 
 down and took water, and threw it over 
 its feet to cool them, and wiped the foam 
 from its face, and washed it, and the 
 horse again neighed. 
 
 And now Alroy tried to remount, but 
 his strength failed him, and the horse im- 
 mediately knelt down and received him. 
 And the moment that the Prince was in 
 his seat, the horse rose, and again pro- 
 ceeded at a rapid pace in their old direc- 
 tion. Towards sunset they were within 
 a few miles of the broken and rocky 
 ground into which the mountains de- 
 scended ; and afar off Alroy recognized 
 the cupola of the long-expected well. 
 With reanimated courage and rallied 
 energies, he patted his courser's neck, 
 and pointed in the direction of the cu- 
 pola, and the horse pricked up its ears, 
 and increased its pace.
 
 60 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Just as the Sun set, they reached the 
 well. Alroy jumped off the horse, and 
 would have led it to the fountain, but the 
 animal would not advance. It stood 
 dreadfully shivering with a glassy eye, 
 and then it bowed its head, and with a 
 groan fell down and died. 
 
 II. 
 
 Night brings rest ; night brings solace ; 
 rest to the weary ; solace to the sad . 
 And to the desperate night brings despair. 
 
 The moon has sunk to early rest ; but 
 a thousand stars are in the sky. The 
 mighty mountains rise severe in the clear 
 and silent air. In the forest all is still. 
 The tired wind no longer roams, but has 
 lightly dropped on its leafy couch, and
 
 OF ALROY. 61 
 
 sleeps like man. Silent all but the foun- 
 tain's drip. And by the fountain's side 
 a youth is lying. 
 
 Suddenly a creature steals through the 
 black and broken rocks. Ha, ha ! the 
 jackal smells from afar the rich corrup- 
 tion of the courser's clay. Suddenly and 
 silently it steals, and stops, and smells. 
 Brave banquetting I ween to-night for all 
 that goodly company. Jackal, and fox, 
 and marten cat, haste ye now ere morn- 
 ing's break shall call the vulture to his 
 feast, and rob ye of your prey. 
 
 The jackal lapped the courser's blood, 
 and moaned with exquisite delight. And 
 in a moment, a faint bark was heard 
 in the distance. And the jackal peeled 
 the ftesh from one of the ribs, and again 
 burst into a shriek of mournful extasy. 
 
 Hark, their quick tramp ! First six,
 
 62 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 and then three, galloping with ungodly 
 glee. And a marten cat came rushing 
 down from the woods ; but the jackals, 
 fierce in their number, drove her away, 
 and there she stood without the circle, 
 panting, beautiful, and baffled, with her 
 white teeth and glossy skin, and sparkling 
 eyes of rabid rage. 7 
 
 Suddenly, as one of the half-gorged 
 jackals retired from the main corpse, 
 dragging along a stray member by some 
 still palpitating nerves, the marten cat 
 made a spring at her enemy, carried off 
 his prey, and rushed into the woods. 
 
 Her wild scream of triumph woke a 
 lion from his lair. His mighty form, 
 black as ebony, moved on a distant emi- 
 nence, his tail flowed like a serpent. He 
 roared, and the jackals trembled, and 
 immediately ceased from their banquet,
 
 OF ALROY. 68 
 
 turning their heads in the direction of 
 their sovereign's voice. He advanced ; 
 he stalked towards them. They retired ; 
 he bent his head, examined the carcass 
 with condescending curiosity, and in- 
 stantly quitted it with royal disdain. 
 The jackals again collected around their 
 garbage. The lion advanced to the foun- 
 tain to drink. He beheld a man. His 
 mane rose, his tail was wildly agitated, he 
 bent over the sleeping Prince, he uttered 
 an awful roar, which woke Alroy. 
 
 III. 
 
 He awoke ; his gaze met the flaming 
 eyes of the enormous beast fixed upon 
 him with a blended feeling of desire and 
 surprise. He awoke, and from a swoon ;
 
 64 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 but the dreamless trance had refreshed 
 the exhausted energies of the desolate 
 wanderer ; in an instant he collected his 
 senses, remembered all that had past, and 
 comprehended his present situation. He 
 returned the lion a glance as imperious, 
 and fierce, and scrutinizing as his own. 
 For a moment their flashing orbs vied in 
 regal rivalry ; but at length the spirit of 
 the mere animal yielded to the genius of 
 the man. The lion cowed, slunk away, 
 stalked with haughty timidity through 
 the rocks, and then sprang into the 
 forest. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Morn breaks; a silver light is shed 
 over the blue and starry sky. Pleasant
 
 OF ALROY. 65 
 
 to feel is the breath of dawn. Night 
 brings repose, but day brings joy. 
 
 The carol of a lonely bird singing in 
 the wilderness ! A lonely bird that sings 
 with glee ! Sunny and sweet, and light 
 and clear, its airy notes float through the 
 sky, and trill with innocent revelry. 
 
 The lonely youth on the lonely bird 
 upgazes from the fountain side. High in 
 the air it proudly floats, balancing its 
 crimson wings, and its snowy tail, long, 
 delicate, and thin, shines like a sparkling 
 meteor in the sun. 
 
 The carol of a lonely bird singing in 
 the wilderness ! Suddenly it downward 
 dashes, and thrice with circling grace 
 it flies around the head of the Hebrew 
 Prince. Then by his side it gently drops 
 a bunch of fresh and fragrant dates. 
 
 'Tis gone, 'tis gone ! that cheerful
 
 66 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 stranger, gone to the palmy land it loves ; 
 gone like a bright and pleasant dream. 
 A moment since and it was there, glanc- 
 ing in the sunny air, and now the sky is 
 without a guest. Alas, alas ! no more is 
 heard, the carol of that lonely bird sing- 
 ing in the wilderness. 
 
 " As thou didst feed Elisha, so also 
 hast thou fed me, God of my fathers !" 
 And Alroy arose, and he took his tur- 
 ban and unfolded it, and knelt and 
 prayed. And then he eat of the dates, 
 and drank of the fountain, and full of 
 confidence in the God of Israel, the de- 
 scendant of David pursued his flight. 
 
 He now commenced the ascent of the
 
 OF ALROY. 67 
 
 mountainous chain, a wearisome and 
 painful toil. Two hours past noon he 
 reached the summit of the first ridge, and 
 looked over a wild and chaotic waste full 
 of precipices and ravines, and dark un- 
 fathomable gorges. The surrounding hills 
 were ploughed in all directions by the 
 courses of dried up cataracts, and here and 
 there a few savage goats browsed on an 
 occasional patch of lean and sour pas- 
 ture. This waste extended for many 
 miles : the distance formed by a more 
 elevated range of mountains, and beyond 
 these, high in the blue sky, rose the 
 loftiest peaks of Elburz, 8 shining with 
 sharp glaciers of eternal snow. 
 
 It was apparent that Alroy was no 
 stranger in the scene of his flight. He 
 had never hesitated as to his course, and 
 now, after having rested for a short time
 
 68 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 on the summit, he descended towards the 
 left by a natural but intricate path, until 
 his progress was arrested by a black 
 ravine. Scarcely half a dozen yards di- 
 vided him from the opposite precipice by 
 which it was formed, but the gulf be- 
 neath — no one could shoot a glance at its 
 invisible termination without drawing 
 back with a cold shudder. 
 
 The Prince knelt down and examined 
 the surrounding ground with great care. 
 At length he raised a small square stone 
 which covered a metallic plate, and taking 
 from his vest a cornelian talisman covered 
 with strange characters, 9 he knocked 
 thrice upon the plate with the signet. A 
 low solemn murmur sounded around. 
 Presently the plate flew off, and Alroy 
 pulled forth several yards of an iron chain, 
 which he threw over to the opposite pre-
 
 OF ALROY. 69 
 
 cipice. The chain fastened without dif- 
 ficulty to the rock, and was evidently 
 constrained by some magnetic influence. 
 The Prince, seizing the chain with both 
 his hands, now swung across the ravine. 
 As he landed, the chain parted from the 
 rock, swiftly disappeared down the opposite 
 aperture, and its covering closed with 
 the same low, solemn murmur as before. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Alroy proceeded for about a hundred 
 paces through a natural cloister of basalt 
 until he arrived at a large uncovered 
 court of the same formation, which a 
 stranger might easily have been excused 
 for believing to have been formed and 
 smoothed by art. In its centre bubbled
 
 70 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 up a perpetual spring, icy cold ; the 
 stream had worn a channel through the 
 pavement, and might be traced for some 
 time wandering among the rocks, until it 
 at length leaped from a precipice, into a 
 gorge below, in a gauzy shower of varie- 
 gated spray. Crossing the court, Alroy 
 now entered a vast cavern. 
 
 The cavern was nearly circular in 
 form, lighted from a large aperture in 
 the top. Yet a burning lamp in a dis- 
 tant and murky corner indicated that its 
 inhabitant did not trust merely to this 
 natural source of the great blessing of ex- 
 istence. In the centre of the cave was a 
 circular and brazen table, sculptured with 
 strange characters and mysterious figures : 
 near it was a couch on which lie several 
 volumes. 10 Suspended from the walls 
 were a shield, some bows and arrows, 
 and other arms.
 
 OF ALROY. 71 
 
 As the Prince of the Captivity knelt 
 down and kissed the vacant couch, a 
 figure advanced from the extremity of 
 the cavern into the light. He was a man 
 of middle age, considerably above the 
 common height, with a remarkably ath- 
 letic frame, and a strongly marked, but 
 majestic countenance. His black beard 
 descended to his waist, over a dark red 
 robe, encircled by a black girdle embroi- 
 dered with yellow characters, like those 
 sculptured on the brazen table. Black 
 also was his turban, and black his large 
 and luminous eyes. 
 
 The stranger advanced so softly, that 
 Alroy did not perceive him, until the 
 Prince again rose up. 
 
 " Jabaster !" exclaimed the Prince. 
 
 " Sacred seed of David," answered the 
 Cabalist, " thou art expected. I read of
 
 72 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 thee in the stars last night. They spoke 
 of trouble." 
 
 " Trouble or triumph, Time must prove 
 which it is, great master. At present I 
 am a fugitive and exhausted. The blood- 
 hounds track me, but methinks I have 
 baffled them now. I have slain an Ish- 
 maelite."
 
 OF ALROY. 73 
 
 PART III. 
 
 It was midnight. Alroy slept upon the 
 couch : his sleep was troubled. Jabaster 
 stood by his side motionless, and gazing 
 intently upon his slumbering guest. 
 
 " The only hope of Israel," murmured 
 the Cabalist, " my pupil and my prince ! 
 I have long perceived in his young mind 
 the seed of mighty deeds, and o'er his 
 future life have often mused with a pro- 
 phetic hope. The blood of David, the 
 sacred offspring of a solemn race. There 
 is a magic in his flowing veins my science 
 cannot reach. 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " When in my youth I raised our 
 standard by my native Tigris, and called 
 our nation to restore their ark, why we 
 were numerous, wealthy, potent ; we 
 were a people then, and they flocked to 
 it boldly. Did we lack counsel ? did we 
 need a leader ? Who can aver Jabasters 
 brain or arm was ever wanting ? And 
 yet the dream dissolved, the glorious vi- 
 sion. Oh ! when I struck down Mar van, 
 and the Caliphs camp flung its blazing 
 shadow o'er the bloody river — ah ! then 
 indeed I lived. Twenty years of vigil 
 may gain a pardon that I then forgot we 
 lacked the chief ingredient in the spell, — 
 the blood that sleeps beside me. 
 
 " I recall the glorious rapture of that 
 sacred strife amid the rocks of Caucasus. 
 A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed 
 wretch, whose life is common sport, and
 
 OF ALROY. J5 
 
 whom the vilest hind may slay without 
 a bidding. I who would have been 
 Messiah ! 
 
 " Burn thy books Jabaster ; break thy 
 brazen tables; forget thy lofty science, 
 Cabalist, and read the stars no longer. n 
 But last night I stood upon the gulf 
 which girds my dwelling : in one hand, 
 I held my sacred talisman, that bears the 
 name ineffable ; in the other, the mystic 
 record of our holy race. I remembered 
 that I had evoked spirits, that I had 
 communed with the great departed, and 
 that the glowing heavens were to me a 
 natural language. I recalled, as conso- 
 lation to my gloomy soul, that never had 
 my science e'er been exercised but for a 
 sacred or a noble purpose. And I re- 
 membered Israel, my brave, my chosen, 
 and my antique race, — slaves, wretched 
 
 e 2
 
 76 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling 
 me down this perilous abyss, and end 
 my learning and my life together. 
 
 " But as I gazed upon the star of 
 David, a sudden halo rose around its rays, 
 and ever and anon a meteor shot from out 
 the silver veil. I read that there was 
 trouble in the holy seed ; and now comes 
 this boy, who has done a deed which — " 
 
 " The ark, the ark ! I gaze upon the 
 ark !" 
 
 " The slumberer speaks ; the words of 
 sleep are sacred." 
 
 " Salvation only from the house of 
 David." 
 
 " A mighty truth ; my life too well 
 has proved it. 
 
 " He is more calm. It is the holy 
 hour. I'll steal into the court, and gaze 
 upon the star that sways the fortunes of 
 his royal house."
 
 OF ALROY. 77 
 
 II 
 
 The moon-beam fell upon the foun- 
 tain ; the pavement of the court was a 
 flood of light ; the rocks rose dark around. 
 Jabaster seated by the spring, and hold- 
 ing his talisman in his left hand, shaded 
 his sight with the other, as he gazed upon 
 the luminous heavens. 
 
 A shriek, his name was called. Alroy, 
 wild and panting, rushed into the court, 
 with extended arms. The Cabalist started 
 up, seized him, and held him in his care- 
 ful grasp, foaming and in convulsions. 
 
 u Jabaster, Jabaster !" 
 
 " I am here, my child." 
 
 " The Lord hath spoken." 
 
 " The Lord is our refuge. Calm thy- 
 self, son of David, and tell me all."
 
 78 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " I have been sleeping*, master ; is it 
 not so ?" 
 
 " Even so, my child. Exhausted by 
 his flight and the iexciting narrative of 
 his exploit, my Prince laid down upon 
 the couch and slumbered ; but I fear 
 that slumber was not repose." 
 
 " Repose and I have nought in com- 
 mon now. Farewell for ever to that 
 fatal word. I am the Lord's anointed." 
 
 " Drink of the fountain, David : it will 
 restore thee." 
 
 " Restore the covenant, restore the ark, 
 restore the holy city." 
 
 " The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen 
 upon him. Son of David, I adjure thee 
 tell me all that hath past. I am a Le- 
 vite ; in my hand I hold the name inef- 
 fable." 
 
 " Take thy trumpet, then, summon
 
 OF ALROY. 79 
 
 the people, bid them swiftly raise again 
 our temple. ' The bricks have fallen, 
 but we will rebuild with marble/ Didst 
 hear that chorus, sir J" 
 
 " Unto thy chosen ear alone it sound- 
 ed." 
 
 " Nay, nay, it was not here. And yet, 
 Miriam, Miriam, my sister, my sweet 
 sister, how thou wouldst weep, to know 
 that which has happened, tears, tears of 
 joy, girl ! Where am I ? This is not our 
 fountain. Yet thou didst say, ' The foun- 
 tain.' Think me not wild. I know thee, 
 I know all. Thou art Jabaster; I am 
 Alroy. But thou didst say, ' The foun- 
 tain/ and it distracted me, and called 
 
 back my memory to 
 
 " God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee ! 
 Here, in the solitude of wildest nature, 
 my only witness here this holy man, I
 
 80 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 kneel and vow. Lord ! I will do thy bid- 
 ding*. I am young, I am very young", O 
 God, and weak ; but thou, Lord, art all- 
 powerful. What God is like to thee ! 
 Doubt not my courage, Lord, and fill me 
 with thy spirit ; but remember, remem- 
 ber her, O Lord, remember Miriam. It 
 is the only worldly thought I have, and 
 it is pure/* 
 
 " Still of his sister — calm thyself, my 
 son/* 
 
 " Holy master, thou dost remember 
 when I was thy pupil in this cavern. 
 Thou hast not forgotten those days of 
 tranquil study, those sweet, long 4 , wan- 
 dering nights of sacred science ! I was 
 dutiful, and hung upon each accent of 
 thy lore with the devotion that must 
 spring from love/* 
 
 " I cannot weep, Alroy ; but were it
 
 OF ALROY. SI 
 
 in my power, I would yield a tear of 
 homageo the memory of those days." 
 
 " How calmly have we sat on some 
 high brow, and gazed upon the stars !" 
 
 " Tis very true, sweet child." 
 
 " And if thou e'er didst chide me, 
 'twas half in jest, and only for my si- 
 lence." 
 
 " What would he now infer ? No mat- 
 ter, he grows calmer. How solemn is his 
 visage in the moonlight ! And yet not 
 Solomon, upon his youthful throne, could 
 look more beautiful." 
 
 " I never told thee an untruth, Ja- 
 baster." 
 
 "My life upon thy faith." 
 
 " Fear not the pledge, and so believe 
 me — on the mountain brow, watching 
 the starry heavens with thyself, 1 was not 
 calmer than I feel, sir, now." 
 
 e 5
 
 82 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " I do believe thee." 
 
 " Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am 
 the Lord's anointed." 
 
 "Tell me all, my child." 
 
 " Know, then, that sleeping on the 
 couch within, my sleep was troubled. 
 Many dreams I had, indefinite and 
 broken. I recall none of their images, 
 except I feel a dim sensation 'twas my 
 lot to live in brighter days than now rise 
 on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a 
 mountain tall and grey, and gazed upon 
 the stars. And as I gazed, a trumpet 
 sounded. Its note thrilled through my 
 soul. Never have I heard a sound so 
 awful. The thunder, when it broke over 
 the cavern here, and shivered the peak, 
 whose ruins lie around us, was but a fee- 
 ble worldly sound to this almighty music. 
 My cheek grew pale, I panted even for 

 
 OF ALROY. 83 
 
 breath. A flaming light spread over the 
 sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld, 
 advancing 1 from the bursting radiancy, 
 the foremost body of a mighty host. 
 
 " Oh ! not when Saul led forth our 
 fighting men against the Philistine, not 
 when Joab numbered the warriors of my 
 great ancestor, did human vision gaze 
 upon a scene of so much martial splen- 
 dour. Chariots and cavalry, and glitter- 
 ing trains of plumed warriors too robust 
 to need a courser's solace ; streams of 
 shining spears, and banners like a sunset ; 
 reverend priests swinging their perfumed 
 censers, and prophets hymning with their 
 golden harps a most triumphant future. 
 
 " ' J°y> j°y/ ^ey say, ' to Israel, for 
 hecometh; he cometh in his splendour 
 and his might, the great Messiah of our 
 ancient hopes.'
 
 84 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " And, lo ! a mighty chariot now ap- 
 peared, drawn by strange beasts, whose 
 forms were half obscured by the bright 
 flames on which they seemed to float. 
 In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud 
 and immovable, his form, his countenance 
 —hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak 
 — that chieftain was myself !" 
 " Proceed, proceed, my son/' 
 " I started in my dream, and I awoke. 
 I found myself upsitting on my couch. 
 The pageantry had vanished. Nought 
 was seen but the bright moonlight and 
 the gloomy cave. And as I sighed to 
 think I e'er had waken, and mused upon 
 the strangeness of my vision, a small still 
 voice descended from above and called 
 6 Alroy ! ? I started, but I answered not. 
 Methought it was my fancy. Again my 
 name was called, and now I murmured — 

 
 OF ALROY. 85 
 
 ' Lord, I am here, what wouldest thou ?' 
 Nought responded, and soon great dread 
 came o'er me, and I rushed out and called 
 to thee, my master." 
 
 " It was ' the Daughter of the Voice' I2 
 that spake. Since the captivity 'tis the 
 only mode by which the saints are sum- 
 moned. Oft have I heard of it, but never 
 in these sad degenerate days has its soft 
 aspiration fallen upon us. These are 
 strange times and tidings. The building 
 of the temple is at hand. Son of David, 
 my heart is full. Let us to prayer !" 
 
 III. 
 
 Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing 
 in solitude among his rocks. Within 
 the cavern Alroy remained in prayer.
 
 86 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot 
 a glance at his companion, and then again 
 relapsed into reverie. 
 
 " The time is come that I must to this 
 youth reveal the secrets of my early life. 
 Much will he hear of glory, much of 
 shame. Nought must I conceal, and 
 nought gloss over. 
 
 " I must tell how in the plains of Ti- 
 gris I upraised the sacred standard of our 
 chosen race, and called them from their 
 bondage ; how, despairing of his recreant 
 fathers, and inspired by human power 
 alone, I vainly claimed the mighty office 
 for his sacred blood alone reserved. God 
 of my fathers, grant that future service, 
 the humble service of a contrite soul, 
 may, in the coming glory that awaits us, 
 atone for past presumption ! 
 
 " But for him great trials are impend-
 
 OF ALROY. 87 
 
 ing. Not lightly must that votary be 
 proved, who fain would free a people. 
 The Lord is faithful to his promise, but 
 the Lord will choose his season and his 
 minister. Courage, and faith, and deep 
 humility, and strong endurance, and 
 the watchful soul temptation cannot 
 sully : these are the fruits we lay upon 
 his altar, and meekly watch if some de- 
 scending flame will vouchsafe to accept 
 and brightly bless them. 
 
 " It is written in the dread volume of 
 our mystic lore, that not alone the Sa- 
 viour shall spring from out our house of 
 princes, but that none shall rise to free 
 us until, alone and unassisted, he have 
 gained the sceptre Solomon antiquely 
 wielded within his cedar palaces. 
 
 " That sceptre must he gain. This 
 fragile youth, untried and delicate, un-
 
 88 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 knowing in the ways of this strange 
 world, where every step is danger. How 
 much hardship, how much peril, what 
 withering disappointment, what dull 
 care, what long despondency, what never- 
 ending lures, now lie in ambush for this 
 gentle boy ! O ! my countrymen, is this 
 thy hope ? And I, with all my lore, and 
 all my courage, and all my deep intelli- 
 gence of man ; unhappy Israel, why am 
 I not thy prince ? 
 
 " I check the blasphemous thought. 
 Did not his great ancestor, as young and 
 as untried, a beardless stripling, but with 
 a pebble, a small, smooth stone, level a 
 mailed giant to the ground, and save his 
 people ? 
 
 " He is clearly summoned. The Lord 
 is with him. Be he with the Lord, and 
 we shall prosper."
 
 OF ALROY. 89 
 
 IV. 
 
 It was at sunset, on the third day after 
 the arrival of Alroy at the cave of the 
 Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity 
 commenced his pilgrimage in quest of the 
 sceptre of Solomon. 
 
 Silently the pilgrim and his master 
 took their way to the brink of the ravine, 
 and there they stopped to part — perhaps 
 for ever. 
 
 " It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human 
 feelings are not for beings like us, yet 
 they will have their way. Remember, 
 remember all. Cherish the talisman as 
 thy life — nay ! welcome death with it 
 pressing against thy heart, sooner than 
 breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. 
 Think of thy ancestors, think of thy 
 God."
 
 90 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Doubt me not, dear master ; if 
 I seem not full of that proud spirit, which 
 was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe 
 it not to fear, Jabaster, nor even to the 
 pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But 
 ever since that sweet and solemn voice 
 summoned me so thrillingly, — I know not 
 how it is, — but a change has come over 
 my temper ; yet I am firm, oh ! firmer 
 far than when I struck down the Ish- 
 maelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for 
 me. The Lord, that knoweth all things, 
 knows full well I am prepared even 
 to the death. Thy prayers, Jabaster, 
 
 an d p 
 
 " Stop, stop. I do remember me. 
 See this ring : 'tis a choice emerald. 
 Thou mayst have wondered I should 
 wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brother 
 once : still he may live. When we
 
 OF ALROY. 91 
 
 parted, this was the signal of his love : a 
 love, my child, strong-, though we greatly 
 differed. Take it. The hour may come 
 that thou mayst need his aid. It will 
 command it. If he live, he prospers. I 
 know his temper well. He was made for 
 what the worldly deem prosperity. God 
 be with thee, sacred boy : the God of 
 our great fathers — the God of Abraham, 
 of Isaac, and of Jacob." 
 
 They embraced. 
 
 " We linger," exclaimed the Cabalist, 
 " we linger. Oh ! in vain we quell the 
 feelings of our kind. God, God, bless 
 and be with thee. Art sure hast all ? 
 thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff* 
 has seen some service. I cut it on the 
 Jordan. Ah ! that I could be thy mate ! 
 T would be nothing then. At the worst, 
 to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter
 
 92 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 now than parting. I'll watch thy star, 
 my child. Thou weepest ! And I too. 
 Why ! what is this ? Am I indeed Ja- 
 
 baster ? One more embrace, and so 
 
 well not say farewell, but only think it."
 
 OF ALROY 93 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 I 
 
 Tradition delivered that the sceptre of 
 Solomon could be found only in the un- 
 known sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew 
 monarchs, and that none might dare to 
 touch it but one of their descendants. 
 Armed with the cabalistic talisman, 
 which was to guide him in his awful and 
 difficult researches, Alroy commenced 
 his pilgrimage to the Holy City. At this 
 time, the love of these sacred wanderings 
 was a reigning passion among the Jews, 
 as well as Christians.
 
 94 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 The Prince of the Captivity was to 
 direct his course into the heart of those 
 great desarts which, in his flight from 
 Hamadan, he had only skirted. Follow- 
 ing the track of the caravan, he was to 
 make his way to Babylon, or Bagdad. 
 From the capital of the Caliphs, his 
 journey to Jerusalem was one compara- 
 tively easy ; but to reach Bagdad he must 
 encounter hardship and danger, the pros- 
 pect of which would have divested any 
 one of hope, who did not conceive him- 
 self the object of an omnipotent and par- 
 ticular Providence. 
 
 Clothed only in a coarse black frock, 
 common among the Kourds, girded round 
 his centre by a cord which held his dagger, 
 his head shaven, and covered with a large 
 white turban, which screened him from 
 the heat, his feet protected only by slip-
 
 OF ALROY. - 95 
 
 pers, supported by his staff, and bearing 
 on his shoulders a bag of dried meat and 
 parched corn, and a leathern skin of 
 water, behold a youth toiling over the 
 glowing sands of Persia, whose life had 
 hitherto been a long '^broken dream of 
 t domestic luxury and .nnocent indul- 
 gence. 
 
 He travelled during the warm night, or 
 the early starlit morn. During the day 
 he rested : happy if he could recline by 
 the side of some charitable well, shaded 
 by a palm tree, or frighten a gazelle from 
 its resting-place among the rough bushes 
 of some wild rocks. Were these resources 
 wanting, he threw himself upon the sand, 
 and made an awning with his staff and 
 turban. 
 
 Three weeks had elapsed since he 
 quitted the cavern of the Cabalist. Hi-
 
 96 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 therto he had met with no human being. 
 The desart became less arid A scanty 
 vegetation sprang up from a more genial 
 soil, the ground broke into gentle undula- 
 tions, his senses were invigorated with the 
 odour of wild plants, and his sight re- 
 freshed by the glancing form of some^ 
 wandering bird, a pilgrim like himself, 
 but more at ease. 
 
 Soon sprang up a grove of graceful 
 palm trees, with their tall thin stems, and 
 bending feathery crowns, languid and 
 beautiful. Around, the verdant sod 
 gleamed like an emerald : silver streams, 
 flowing from a bubbling parent spring, 
 wound their white forms within the 
 bright green turf. From the grove arose 
 the softening song of doves, and showers 
 of gay and sparkling butterflies, borne on 
 their tinted wings of shifting light, danced
 
 OF ALROY. 97 
 
 without danger in the liquid air. A fair 
 and fresh Oasis ! 
 
 II. 
 
 Alroy reposed in this delicious retreat 
 for two days, feeding on the living dates, 
 and drinking of the fresh water. Fain 
 would he have lingered, nor indeed until 
 lie rested, had he been sufficiently con- 
 scious of his previous exertion. But the 
 remembrance of his great mission made 
 him restless, and steeled him to the suf- 
 fering which yet awaited him. 
 
 At the dawn of the second day of his 
 journey from the oasis, he beheld, to his 
 astonishment, faintly but distinctly traced 
 on the far horizon, the walls and turrets 
 of an extensive city. 13 Animated by this 
 
 VOLc I. F
 
 98 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 unexpected prospect, he continued his 
 progress for several hours after sunrise. 
 At length, utterly exhausted, he sought 
 refuge from the overpowering heat be- 
 neath the cupola of the ruined tomb of 
 some Moslemin saint. At sunset he con- 
 tinued his journey, and in the morning 
 found himself within a few miles of the 
 city. He halted and watched with 
 anxiety for some evidence of its inha- 
 bitants. None was visible. No crowds 
 or cavalcades issued from the gates. Not 
 a single human being, not a solitary camel 
 moved in the vicinity. 
 
 The day was too advanced for the pil- 
 grim to proceed, but so great was his 
 anxiety to reach this unknown settlement, 
 and penetrate the mystery of its silence, 
 that ere sunset Alroy entered the gates. 
 
 A magnificent city, of an architecture
 
 OF ALROY. 99 
 
 with which he was unacquainted, offered 
 to his entranced vision its gorgeous ruins 
 and deserted splendour ; long streets of 
 palaces, with their rich line of lessening- 
 pillars, here and there broken by some 
 fallen shaft, vast courts surrounded by 
 ornate and solemn temples, and luxurious 
 baths, adorned with rare mosaics, and yet 
 bright with antique gilding : now an 
 arch of triumph still haughty with its 
 broken friezes, now a granite obelisk 
 covered with strange characters, and 
 proudly towering o'er a prostrate com- 
 panion ; sometimes a void and crumbling 
 theatre, sometimes a long and elegant 
 aqueduct, sometimes a porphyry column, 
 once breathing with the heroic statue 
 that now lies shivered at its base— all suf- 
 fused with the warm twilight of an Eastern 
 eve. 
 
 F2
 
 100 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 He gazed with wonder and admira- 
 tion upon the strange and fascinating 
 scene. The more he beheld, the more his 
 curiosity was excited. He breathed with 
 difficulty ; he advanced with a blended 
 feeling of eagerness and hesitation. Fresh 
 wonders successively unfolded themselves. 
 Each turn developed a new scene of still 
 and solemn splendour. The echo of his 
 step filled him with awe. He looked 
 around him with an amazed air, a flutter- 
 ing heart, and changing countenance. All 
 was silent: alone the Hebrew Prince stood 
 amid the regal creation of the Macedonian 
 captains. Empires and dynasties flourish 
 and pass away, the proud metropolis 
 becomes a solitude, the conquering king- 
 dom even a desart ; but Israel still remains, 
 still a descendant of the most ancient 
 kings breathed amid these royal ruins,
 
 OF ALROY. 101 
 
 and still the eternal sun could never rise 
 without gilding the towers of living 
 Jerusalem. A word, a deed, a single day, 
 a single man, and we might be a nation. 
 
 A shout ; he turns, he is seized ; four 
 ferocious Kourdish bandits grapple and 
 bind him. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The bandits hurried their captive 
 through a street which appeared to have 
 been the principal way of the city. Nearly 
 at its termination they turned by a small 
 Ionian temple, and clambering over some 
 fallen pillars, they entered a quarter of 
 the city of a more ruinous aspect, than 
 that which Alroy had hitherto visited. 
 The path was narrow, often obstructed,
 
 102 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 and around were signs of devastation for 
 which the exterior of the city had not 
 prepared him. 
 
 The brilliant but brief twilight of the 
 Orient was fast fading away ; a sombre 
 purple tint succeeded to the rosy flush, 
 the distant towers rose black, although 
 defined in the clear and shadowy air, and 
 the moon, which when he first entered, 
 had studded the heavens like a small 
 white cloud, now glittered with deceptive 
 light. 
 
 Suddenly before them rose a huge pile. 
 Oval in shape, and formed by tiers of 
 arches, it was evidently much dilapi- 
 dated, and one enormous, irregular, and 
 undulating rent, extending from the top 
 nearly to the foundation, almost separated 
 the side to which Alroy and his com- 
 panions advanced.
 
 OF ALROY. ] 03 
 
 Clambering up the remainder of this 
 massy wall, the robbers and their pri- 
 soner descended into an immense amphi- 
 theatre, which seemed vaster in the sha- 
 dowy and streaming moonlight. In it 
 were groups of men, horses, and camels. 
 In the extreme distance, reclining or 
 squatting on mats and carpets, was a large 
 assembly engaged in a rough but merry 
 banquet. A fire blazed at their side, its 
 red and uncertain flame mingling with 
 the white and steady moonbeam, and 
 throwing a flickering light over their 
 ferocious countenances, their glistening ar- 
 mour, ample drapery, and shawled heads. 
 
 " A spy," exclaimed the captors, as 
 they dragged Alroy before the leader of 
 the band. 
 
 '* Hang him, then/' said the chieftain, 
 without even looking up.
 
 104 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " This wine, great Scherirah, is excel- 
 lent, or I am no true Moslemin," said a 
 principal robber ; "but you are too 
 cruel ; I hate this summary punishment. 
 Let us torture him a little, and extract 
 some useful information." 
 
 " As you like, Kisloch," said Sche- 
 rirah ; " it may amuse us. Fellow, 
 where do you come from ? He cannot 
 answer. Decidedly a spy. Hang him up." 
 
 The captors half untied the rope that 
 bound Alroy , that it might serve him for 
 another purpose, when another of the 
 gentle companions of Scherirah inter- 
 fered. 
 
 " Spies always answer, captain. He 
 is more probably a merchant in disguise." 
 
 " And carries hidden treasure/' added 
 Kisloch ; " these rough coats often cover 
 jewels. We had better search him."
 
 OF ALROY. 105 
 
 " Ay ! search him,* said Scherirah, 
 with his rough, brutal voice ; " do what 
 you like, only give me the bottle. This 
 Greek wine is choice booty. Feed the 
 fire, men. Are you asleep ? And then 
 Kisloch, who hates cruelty, can roast him, 
 if he likes/' 
 
 The robbers prepared to strip their 
 captive. " Friends, friends !" exclaimed 
 Alroy, " for there is no reason why you 
 should not be friends, spare me, spare me. 
 I am poor, I am young, I am innocent. I 
 am neither a spy nor a merchant. I have 
 no plots, no wealth. I am a pilgrim." 
 
 " A decided spy," exclaimed Scheri- 
 rah ; " they are ever pilgrims." 
 
 " He speaks too well to speak truth," 
 exclaimed Kisloch. 
 
 " All talkers are liars," exclaimed Sche- 
 rirah. 
 
 F 5
 
 106 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " That is why Kisloch is the most elo- 
 quent of the band." 
 
 " A jest at the banquet may prove a 
 curse in the field," replied Kisloch. 
 
 " Pooh !" exclaimed Scherirah. " Fel- 
 lows, why do you hesitate ? Search the 
 prisoner, I say !" 
 
 They advanced, they seized him. In 
 vain he struggled. 
 
 " Captain," exclaimed one of the band, 
 " he wears upon his breast a jewel VI 
 
 " I told you so," said the third 
 robber. 
 
 " Give it me/' said Scherirah. 
 
 But Alroy, in despair, at the thought 
 of losing the talisman, remembering the 
 injunctions of Jabaster, and animated by 
 supernatural courage, burst from his 
 searchers, and, seizing a brand from the 
 fire, held them at bay.
 
 OF ALROY. 107 
 
 " The fellow has spirit," said Scherirah 
 calmly. " 'Tis pity it will cost him his 
 life." 
 
 " Bold man/' exclaimed Alroy, " for a 
 moment hear me ! I am a pilgrim, poorer 
 than a beggar. The jewel they talk of is 
 a holy emblem, worthless to you, to me 
 invaluable, and to be forfeited only by 
 my life. You maybe careless of that. 
 Beware of your own. The first man who 
 advances, dies. I pray you humbly, 
 chieftain, let me go." 
 
 " Kill him !" said Scherirah. 
 
 " Stab him !" exclaimed Kisloch. 
 
 " Give me the jewel," said the third 
 robber. 
 
 " The God of David be my refuge, 
 then !" exclaimed Alroy. 
 
 " He is a Hebrew, he is a Hebrew," 
 exclaimed Scherirah, jumping up. " Spare
 
 108 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 him ! spare him ! my mother was a 
 Jewess." 
 
 The assailants lowered their arms, and 
 withdrew a few paces. Alroy still re- 
 mained upon his guard. 
 
 " Valiant pilgrim," said Scherirah, ad- 
 vancing, with a softened voice, " are you 
 for the holy city ?" 
 
 " The city of my fathers.' 
 
 " A perilous journey. And whence 
 from r 
 
 " Hamadan." 
 
 " A dreary way. You need repose. 
 Your name ?" 
 
 " David." 
 
 " David, you are among friends. Rest 
 and repose in safety. You hesitate. Fear 
 not ! The memory of my mother is a 
 charm that always changes me." Scheri- 
 rah unsheathed his dagger, punctured his
 
 OF ALROY. 109 
 
 arm, and, throwing* away the weapon, of- 
 fered the bleeding member to Alroy. The 
 prince of the Captivity touched the open 
 vein with his lips. 
 
 " My troth is pledged/' said the ban- 
 dit ; " I can never betray him in whose 
 veins my own blood is flowing-." 14 So say- 
 ing", he led Alroy to his carpet. 
 
 IV. 
 
 " Eat, David/' said Scherirah. 
 
 " I will eat bread," answered Alroy. 
 
 " What have you had so much meat 
 lately that you will refuse this delicate 
 gazelle that I have brought down this 
 morning with my own lance ? 'Tis food 
 for a Caliph/' 
 
 " I pray you give me bread "
 
 110 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Oh ! bread if you like. But that a 
 man should prefer bread to meat, and such 
 meat as this, 'tis miraculous." 
 
 " A thousand thanks, good Scherirah ; 
 but with our people the flesh of the ga- 
 zelle is forbidden. It is unclean. Its 
 foot is cloven." 
 
 u I have heard of these things/' replied 
 Scherirah, with a thoughtful air. " My 
 mother was a Jewess, and my father was 
 a Kourd. Whichever be right, I hope to 
 be saved." 
 
 " There is but one God, and Mohammed 
 is his prophet !" exclaimed Kisloch ; 
 " though I drink wine. Your health, 
 Hebrew." 
 
 " I will join you," said the third robber. 
 " My father was a Guebre, and sacrificed 
 his property to his faith ; and the conse- 
 quence is, his son has got neither."
 
 OF ALROY. 1 1 1 
 
 " As for me," said a fourth robber, of 
 very dark complexion and singularly 
 small bright eyes, " I am an Indian, and 
 I believe in the great golden figure with 
 carbuncle eyes, in the Temple of Delhi." 
 
 " I have no religion/' said a tall negro, 
 in a red turban, grinning with his white 
 teeth ; " they have none in my country ; 
 but if I had heard of your God before, Ca- 
 lidas, I would have believed in him." 
 
 " I almost wish I had been a Jew," ex- 
 claimed Scherirah musing. " My mother 
 was a good woman." 
 
 " The Jews are very rich," said the 
 third robber. 
 
 ■" When you get to Jerusalem, David, 
 you will see the Christians," continued 
 Scherirah. 
 
 " The accursed Giaours," exclaimed 
 Kisloch, "we are all against them."
 
 112 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " With their white faces," exclaimed 
 the Negro. 
 
 " And their blue eyes," said the In- 
 dian. 
 
 " What can you expect of men who 
 live in a country without a Sun ?" ob- 
 served the Guebre. 
 
 V. 
 
 Alroy woke about two hours after mid- 
 night. His companions were in deep 
 slumber. The moon had set, the fire had 
 died away, a few red embers alone re- 
 maining ; dark masses of shadow hung 
 about the amphitheatre. He arose and 
 cautiously stepped over the sleeping ban- 
 dits. He was not, in strictness, a prison- 
 er ; but who could trust to the caprice of
 
 OF ALROY. 113 
 
 these lawless men ? To-morrow might 
 find him their slave, or their companion 
 in some marauding" expedition, which 
 might make him almost retrace his steps 
 to the Caucasus or to Hamadan. The 
 temptation to ensure his freedom was 
 irresistible. He clambered up the t uined 
 wall, descended into the intricate wind- 
 ings that led to the Ionic fane, that served 
 him as a beacon, hurried through the 
 silent and starry streets, gained the great 
 portal, and rushed once more into the 
 desart. 
 
 A vague fear of pursuit made him con- 
 tinue his course many hours without 
 resting. The desart again became sandy, 
 the heat increased. The breeze that plays 
 about the wilderness, and in early spring 
 is often scented with the wild fragrance 
 of aromatic plants, sank away. A lurid
 
 114. THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 brightness suffused the heavens. An ap- 
 palling stillness pervaded nature ; even 
 the insects were silent. For the first 
 time in his pilgrimage, a feeling of deep 
 despondency fell over the soul of Alroy. 
 His energy appeared suddenly to have 
 deserted him. A low hot wind began to 
 rise, and fan his cheek with pestiferous 
 kisses, and enervate his frame with its 
 poisonous embrace. His head and limbs 
 ached with a dull sensation, more terri- 
 ble than pain ; his sight was dizzy, his 
 tongue swollen. Vainly he looked around 
 for aid, vainly he extended his forlorn 
 arms, and wrung them to the remorseless 
 heaven. Almost frantic with thirst, the 
 boundless horizon of the desart disap- 
 peared, and the unhappy victim, in the 
 midst of his torture, found himself appa- 
 rently surrounded by bright and running
 
 OF ALROY. 115 
 
 streams, the fleeting waters of the false 
 Mirage ! 
 
 The Sun became blood-red, the sky 
 darker, the sand rose in fierce eddies, the 
 moaning wind burst into shrieks and 
 respired a more ardent and still more 
 malignant breath. The pilgrim could no 
 longer sustain himself. 15 Faith, courage, 
 devotion, deserted him with his failing 
 energies. He strove no longer with his 
 destiny, he delivered himself up to des- 
 pair and death. He fell upon one knee 
 with drooping head, supporting himself 
 by one quivering hand, and then, full of 
 the anguish of baffled purposes and lost 
 affections, raising his face and arm to 
 heaven, thus to the elements he poured 
 his passionate farewell. 
 
 " O Life once vainly deemed a 
 gloomy toil, I feel thy sweetness now ;
 
 116 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Farewell, O life, farewell my high re- 
 solves and proud conviction of almighty 
 fame. My days, my short unprofitable 
 days, melt into the past ; and death, with 
 which I struggle, horrible death, arrests 
 me in this wilderness. O my sister, 
 could thy voice, thy sweet, sweet voice, 
 but murmur in my ear one single sigh of 
 love ; could thine eye with its soft radi- 
 ance but an instant blend with my dim 
 fading vision, the pang were nothing. 
 Farewell, Miriam ! my heart is with thee 
 by thy fountain's side. Fatal blast, bear 
 her my dying words, my blessing. And 
 ye, too, friends, whose too neglected love 
 I think of now, farewell ! Farewell, my 
 uncle, farewell pleasant home, and Ha- 
 madan's serene and shadowy bowers ! 
 Farewell, Jabaster, and the mighty lore 
 of which thou wert the priest and I the
 
 OF ALROY. 117 
 
 pupil ! Thy talisman throbs on my faith- 
 ful heart. Green Earth and golden Sun, 
 and all the beautiful and glorious sights 
 ye fondly lavish on unthinking man, 
 farewell, farewell ! I die in the desart, 
 'tis bitter. No more, oh ! never more, for 
 me the hopeful day shall break, and its 
 fresh breeze rise on its cheering wings of 
 health and joy. Heaven and earth, water 
 and air, my chosen country, and my 
 antique creed, farewell, farewell ! And 
 thou, too, City of my soul, I cannot name 
 thee, unseen Jerusalem—" 
 
 Amid the roar of the wind, the bosom 
 of the earth heaved and opened, swift 
 columns of sand sprang up to the lurid 
 sky, and hurried towards their victim. 
 With the clang of universal chaos, im- 
 penetrable darkness descended on the 
 desart.
 
 118 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 PART V 
 
 I. 
 
 " Now our dreary way is o'er, now the 
 desart's toil is past. Soon the river broad- 
 ly flowing, through its green and palmy 
 banks, to our wearied limbs shall offer, 
 baths which Caliphs cannot buy. Allah- 
 illah, Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Allah-hu." 
 
 " Blessed the man who now may bear 
 a relic from our prophet's tomb, blessed 
 the man who now unfolds the treasures 
 of a distant mart, jewels of the dusky 
 East, and silks of farthest Samarcand. 
 Allah-illah, Allah-hu. Allah-illah, Al- 
 lah-hu."
 
 OF ALROY. 119 
 
 " Him the sacred Mosque shall greet 
 with a reverence grave and low, him the 
 busy Bezestein shall welcome with con- 
 fiding smile. Holy merchant, now re- 
 ceive the double triumph of thy toil. 
 Allah-illah, Allah-hu, Allah-illah, Allah- 
 hu." 
 
 " The camel jibs, Abdallah ! See, there 
 is something in the track." 
 
 "Bythe holy stone, 16 a dead man. Poor 
 devil ! One should never make a pil- 
 grimage on foot. I hate your humble 
 piety. Prick the beast and he will pass 
 the corpse." 
 
 " The prophet preaches charity, Ab- 
 dallah. He has favoured my enterprize, 
 and I will practice his precept. See if he 
 be utterly dead." 
 
 It was the Mecca caravan returning to 
 Bagdad. The pilgrims were within a
 
 120 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 day's journey of the Euphrates, and wel- 
 comed their approach to fertile earth with 
 a triumphant chorus. Far as the eye 
 could reach, the long line of their strag- 
 gling procession stretched across the wil- 
 derness, thousands of camels in strings, 
 laden with bales of merchandize, and each 
 company headed by an animal of superior 
 size leading with tinkling bells, groups of 
 horsemen, clusters of litters ; all the pil- 
 grims armed to their teeth, the van form- 
 ed by a strong division of Seljukian 
 cavalry, and the rear protected by a 
 Kourdish clan, who guaranteed the secu- 
 rity of the pious travellers through their 
 country. 
 
 Abdallah was the favourite slave of 
 the charitable merchant Ali. In obe- 
 dience to his master's orders, he unwill- 
 ingly descended from his camel, and
 
 OF ALROY. 121 
 
 examined the body of the apparently life- 
 less Alroy. 
 
 " A Kourd, by his dress," exclaimed 
 Abdallah, with a sneer, " what does he 
 here ?" 
 
 " It is not the face of a Kourd," re- 
 plied Ali, " perchance a pilgrim from 
 the mountains ?" 
 
 " Whatever he be, he is dead," an- 
 swered the slave : " I doubt not an ac- 
 cursed Giaour." 
 
 " God is great," exclaimed Ali, " he 
 breathes ; the breast of his caftan 
 heaved." 
 
 " 'Twas the wind," said Abdallah. 
 
 " 'Twas the sigh of a human heart," 
 answered Ali. 
 
 Several pilgrims who were on foot had 
 now gathered round the group. 
 
 " I am a Hakim," 17 observed a dignified 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 ] 22 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Armenian. " I will feel his pulse ; 'tis 
 dull, but it beats." 
 
 " There is but one God," exclaimed 
 Ali. 
 
 " And Mahomed is his prophet," re- 
 sponded Abdallah. " You do not believe 
 in him, you Armenian infidel." 
 
 " I am a Hakim," replied the digni- 
 fied Armenian. i( Although an infidel, 
 God has granted me skill to cure true 
 believers. Worthy Ali, believe me, the 
 boy may yet live." 
 
 " Hakim, you shall count your own 
 dirhems if he breathe in my divan in 
 Bagdad," answered Ali ; " I have taken 
 a fancy to the boy. God has sent him 
 to me. He shall carry my slippers." 
 
 " Give me a camel, and I will save his 
 life." 
 
 " We have none," said the servant.
 
 OF ALROY, 123 
 
 " Walk, Abdallah," said the master. 
 
 " Is a true believer to walk to save the 
 life of a Kourd ? Master slipper-bearer 
 shall answer for this, if there be any 
 sweetness in the bastinado/" murmured 
 Abdallah. 
 
 The Armenian blooded Alroy ; the 
 blood flowed slowly but surely. The 
 Prince of the Captivity opened his eyes. 
 
 " There is but one God !" exclaimed 
 Ali. 
 
 "The evil eye fall on him!" 18 muttered 
 Abdallah. 
 
 The Armenian took a cordial from his 
 vest, and poured it down his patient's 
 throat. The blood flowed more freely. 
 
 " He will live, worthy merchant," said 
 the physician. 
 
 " And Mahomed is his prophet," con- 
 tinued Ali. 
 
 G 2
 
 124 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 u By the stone of Mecca, I believe it is 
 a Jew," shouted Abdallah. 
 
 " The dog !" exclaimed Ali. 
 
 " Pah \" said a negro-slave, drawing 
 hack with disgust. 
 
 " He will die," said the Christian phy- 
 sician, not even binding up the vein. 
 
 " And be damned," said Abdallah, 
 jumping again on his camel. 
 
 The party rode on, the caravan pro- 
 ceeded. A Kourdish horseman galloped 
 forward. He curbed his steed as he pass- 
 ed Alroy bleeding to death. 
 
 " What accursed slave has wounded 
 one of my clan ?" 
 
 The Kourd jumped off his horse, strip- 
 ped off a slip of his blue shirt, stanched 
 the wound, and carried the unhappy Al- 
 roy to the rear. 
 
 The Desart ceased, the caravan entered
 
 OFALROY. 125 
 
 upon a vast but fruitful plain. In the 
 extreme distance might be detected a 
 long undulating line of palm trees. The 
 van guard gave a shout, shook their tall 
 lances in the air, and rattled their scyme- 
 tars in rude chorus against their small 
 round iron shields. All eyes sparkled, 
 all hands were raised, all voices sounded, 
 save those that were breathless from 
 overpowering joy. After months wan- 
 dering in the sultry wilderness they 
 beheld the great Euphrates. 
 
 Broad, and fresh, and magnificent, and 
 serene, the mighty waters rolled through 
 the beautiful and fertile earth. A vital 
 breeze rose from their bosom. Every 
 being responded to their genial influ- 
 ence. The sick were cured, the despond- 
 ing became sanguine, the healthy and 
 light-hearted broke into shouts of laughter,
 
 126 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 jumped from their camels, and embraced 
 the fragrant earth, or wild in their reno- 
 vated strength, galloped over the plain, 
 and threw their wanton jerreeds in the 
 air, 19 as if to show their suffering and la- 
 bour had not deprived them of that skill 
 and strength, without which it were vain 
 again to enter the haunts of their less ad- 
 venturous brethren. 
 
 The caravan halted on the banks of 
 the broad river glowing in the cool sun- 
 set. The camp was pitched, the plain 
 glittered with tents. The camels falling on 
 their knees, crouched in groups, the mer- 
 chandize piled up in masses by their sides. 
 The unharnessed horses rushed neigh- 
 ing about the plain, tossing their glad 
 heads, and rolling in the unaccustomed 
 pasture. Spreading their mats, and kneel- 
 ing towards Mecca, the pilgrims perform-
 
 OF ALROY. 127 
 
 ed their evening orisons. Never was 
 thanksgiving more sincere. They arose ; 
 some rushed into the river, some lighted 
 lamps, some pounded coffee. 20 Troops of 
 smiling villagers arrived with fresh pro- 
 visions eager to prey upon such light 
 hearts and heavy purses. It was one of 
 those occasions when the accustomed 
 gravity of the Orient disappears. Long 
 through the night the sounds of music 
 and the shouts of laughter were heard on 
 the banks of that starry river, long 
 through the night you might have listen- 
 ed with enchantment to the wild tales of 
 the storier, or gazed with fascination on 
 the wilder gestures of the dancing girls. 21
 
 128 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 II 
 
 The great Bazaar of Bagdad afforded a 
 very animated and sumptuous spectacle 
 on the day after the arrival of the caravan. 
 All the rare and costly products of the 
 world were collected in that celebrated 
 mart : the shawls of Cashmere and the 
 silks of Syria, the ivory, and plumes, and 
 gold of Afric, the jewels of Ind, the talis- 
 mans of Egypt, the perfumes and manu- 
 scripts of Persia, the spices and gums of 
 Araby, beautiful horses, more beautiful 
 slaves, cloaks of sable, pelisses of ermine, 
 armour alike magnificent in ornament 
 and temper, rare animals, still rarer birds, 
 blue apes in silver collars, white gazelles 
 bound by a golden chain, greyhounds,
 
 OF ALROY. 129 
 
 peacocks, paroquets. And every where 
 strange, and busy, and excited groups ; 
 men of all nations, creeds, and climes : 
 the sumptuous and haughty Turk, the 
 graceful and subtle Arab, the Hebrew 
 with his black cap and anxious counte- 
 nance ; the Armenian Christian, with his 
 dark flowing robes, and mild demeanour, 
 and serene visage. Here strutted the 
 lively, affected, and superfine Persian ; 
 and there the Circassian stalked with his 
 long hair and chain cuirass. The fair 
 Georgian jostled the ebony form of the 
 merchant of Dongola or Sennaar. 
 
 Through the long, narrow, arched, and 
 winding streets of the Bazaar, lined on 
 each side with loaded stalls, all was bustle, 
 bargaining, and barter. A passenger ap- 
 proached, apparently of no common rank. 
 Two pages preceded him, beautiful Geor- 
 
 G 5
 
 1 30 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 gian boys, clothed in crimson cloth, and 
 caps of the same material, setting tight to 
 their heads, with long golden tassels. 
 One bore a blue velvet bag, and the 
 other a clasped and richly-bound volume. 
 Four footmen, armed, followed their 
 master, who rode behind the pages on a 
 milk-white mule. He was a man of 
 middle age, eminently handsome. His 
 ample robes concealed the only fault in 
 his appearance, a figure which indulgence 
 had rendered somewhat too ample. His 
 eyes were large, and soft, and dark ; his 
 nose aquiline, but delicately moulded ; 
 his mouth small, and beautifully propor- 
 tioned ; his lip full and red ; his teeth re- 
 gular, and dazzling white. His ebony 
 beard flowed, but not at too great a length, 
 in graceful and natural curls, and was 
 richly perfumed; a delicate mustachio
 
 OF ALROY. 131 
 
 shaded his upper lip, but no whisker was 
 permitted to screen the form and shroud 
 the lustre of his oval countenance and 
 brilliant complexion. Altogether, the 
 animal, perhaps, predominated too much 
 in the expression of the stranger's coun- 
 tenance, but genius beamed from his pas- 
 sionate eye, and craft lay concealed in 
 that subtle lip. The dress of the rider 
 was sumptuous. His turban formed by 
 a scarlet Cashmere shawl, was of great 
 breadth, and, concealing half of his white 
 forehead, increased by the contrast the 
 radiant height of the other. His under 
 vest was of white Damascus silk, stiif 
 with silver embroidery, and confined by 
 a girdle formed by a Brusa scarf of gold 
 stuff, and holding a dagger, whose hilt 
 appeared blazing with brilliants and 
 rubies. His loose and exterior robe was
 
 132 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 of crimson cloth. His white hands 
 sparkled with rings, and his ears glittered 
 with pendulous gems. 
 
 " Who is this ?" asked an Egyptian 
 merchant, in a low whisper, of the dealer 
 whose stuffs he was examining. 
 
 " Tis the Lord Honain," replied the 
 dealer. 
 
 " And who may he be }" continued 
 the Egyptian. " Is he the Caliph's 
 son ?" 
 
 66 Poh ! a much greater man— his phy- 
 sician." 
 
 The white mule stopped at the very 
 stall where this conversation was taking 
 place. The pages halted, and stood on 
 each side of their master — the footmen 
 kept off the crowd. 
 
 " Merchant," said Honain, with a gra- 
 cious smile of condescension, and with a
 
 OF ALROY. 1 33 
 
 voice musical as a flute. f< Merchant, 
 did you obtain me my wish ?" 
 
 " There is but one God," replied the 
 dealer, who was the charitable Ali, " and 
 Mahomed is his prophet. I succeeded, 
 please your highness, in seeing at Aleppo 
 the accursed Giaour, of whom I spoke, 
 and behold that which you desired is 
 here." So saying, Ali produced several 
 Greek manuscripts, and offered them to 
 his visitor. 
 
 " Hah !" said Honain, with a spark- 
 ling eye, " 'tis well — their cost ?" 
 
 " The infidel would not part with 
 them under five hundred dirhems," re- 
 plied Ali. 
 
 " Ibrahim, see that this worthy mer- 
 chant receive a thousand." 
 
 '*. As many thanks, my Lord Ho- 
 nain."
 
 134 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 The Caliph's physician bowed grace- 
 fully. 
 
 "Advance, pages," continued Honain ; 
 " why this stoppage ? Ibrahim, see that 
 our way be cleared. What is all this ?" 
 
 A crowd of men advanced, pulling 
 along a youth, who, almost exhausted, 
 still singly struggled with his ungenerous 
 adversaries. 
 
 " The Cadi, the Cadi," cried the fore- 
 most of them, who was Abdallah, " drag 
 him to the Cadi." 
 
 " Noble lord," cried the youth, ex- 
 tricating himself by a sudden struggle 
 from the grasp of his captors, and seizing 
 the robe of Honain, " I am innocent and 
 injured. I pray thy help." 
 
 " The Cadi, the Cadi," exclaimed Ab- 
 dallah ; " the knave has stolen my ring 
 — the ring given me by my faithful
 
 OF ALROY. 135 
 
 Fatima on our marriage day, and which I 
 would not part with for my master's stores." 
 
 The youth still clung to the robe of 
 Honain, and mute from exhaustion, fixed 
 upon him his beautiful and imploring eye. 
 
 " Silence," proclaimed Honain; " I 
 will judge this cause." 
 
 " The Lord Honain, the Lord Honain, 
 listen to the Lord Honain." 
 
 (e Speak, thou brawler ; of what hast 
 thou to complain ?" said Honain to Ab- 
 dallah. 
 
 " May it please your highness," said 
 Abdallah, in a whining voice, " I am the 
 slave of your faithful servant, Ali : often 
 have I had the honour of waiting on your 
 highness. This young knave here, a 
 beggar, has robbed me, while slumbering 
 in a coffee-house, of a ring ; I have my 
 witnesses to prove my slumbering. Tis
 
 136 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 a fine emerald, may it please your high- 
 ness, and doubly valuable to me as a love 
 token from my Fatima. No consideration 
 in the world could induce me to part with 
 it ; and so being asleep — here are three 
 honest men who will prove the sleep — 
 comes this little vagabond, may it please 
 your highness, who, while he pretends to 
 offer me my coffee, takes him my finger, 
 and slips off this precious ring, which he 
 now wears upon his own beggarly paw, and 
 will not restore to me without the basti- 
 nado. " 
 
 " Abdallah is a faithful slave, may it 
 please your highness, and a Hadgee," said 
 Ali, his master. 
 
 " And what sayest thou, boy ?" in- 
 quired Honain. 
 
 " That this is a false knave, who lies 
 as slaves ever will."
 
 OF ALROY. 137 
 
 " Pithy, and perhaps true/' said Ho- 
 nain. 
 
 " You call me a slave, you young 
 scoundrel?" exclaimed Abdallah ; ''shall 
 I tell you what you are ? Why, your 
 highness, do not listen to him a moment. 
 It is a shame to bring such a creature 
 into your presence ; for by the holy 
 stone, and I am a Hadgee, I doubt little 
 he is a Jew." 
 
 Honain grew somewhat pale, and bit 
 his lip. He was perhaps annoyed that he 
 had interfered so publicly in behalf of so 
 unpopular a character as a Hebrew, but 
 he was unwilling to desert one whom a 
 moment before he had resolved to be- 
 friend, and he inquired of the youth 
 where he had obtained the ring. 
 
 " The ring was given to me by my 
 dearest friend when I first set out upon
 
 138 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 an arduous pilgrimage not yet completed. 
 There is but one person in the world, 
 except the donor, to whom I would part 
 with it, and with that person I am unac- 
 quainted. All this may seem impro- 
 bable, but all this is true. I have truth 
 alone to support me. I am destitute and 
 friendless ; but I am not a beggar, nor 
 will any suffering induce me to become 
 one. Feeling from various circumstances 
 utterly exhausted, I entered a coffee- 
 house and laid down, it may have been 
 to die. I could not sleep although my 
 eyes were shut, and nothing would have 
 roused me from a tremulous trance, which 
 I thought was dying, but this plunderer 
 here, who would not wait until death had 
 permitted him quietly to possess himself 
 of a jewel I value more than life." 
 " Show me the jewel."
 
 OF ALROY. 139 
 
 The youth held up his hand to Honain, 
 who felt his pulse, and then took off the 
 ring. 
 
 " O my Fatima!" exclaimed Abdallah. 
 
 " Silence, sir !" said Honain. " Page, 
 call a jeweller." 
 
 Honain examined the ring very atten- 
 tively. Whether he were near-sighted, 
 or whether the deceptive light of the 
 covered bazaar prevented him from ex- 
 amining it with ease, he certainly raised 
 his hand to his brow, and for some mo- 
 ments his countenance was invisible. 
 
 The jeweller arrived, and pressing his 
 hand to his heart, bowed before Honain. 
 
 " Value this ring," said Honain in a 
 low voice. 
 
 The jeweller took the ring, viewed it 
 in all directions with a scrutinizing glance, 
 held it to the light, pressed it to his
 
 140 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 tongue, turned it over and over and 
 finally declared that he could not sell 
 such a ring' under a thousand dirhems. 
 
 " Whatever be the justice of the case/' 
 said Honain to Abdallah, " art thou 
 ready to part with this ring for a thou- 
 sand dirhems ?" 
 
 " Most certainly," said Abdallah. 
 
 " And thou, lad, if the decision be in 
 thy favour, wilt thou take for the ring 
 double the worth at which the jeweller 
 prizes it ?" 
 
 " My lord, I have spoken the truth. 
 I cannot part with that ring for the pa- 
 lace of the Caliph." 
 
 " The truth for once is triumphant," 
 said Honain. - ■ Boy, the ring is thine ; 
 and for thee, thou knave," turning to 
 Abdallah, " liar, thief, and slanderer ! — 
 for thee the bastinado 22 thou destined for
 
 OF ALROY. 141 
 
 this innocent youth. Ibraham, see that 
 he receives five hundred. Young pil- 
 grim, thou art no longer destitute or 
 friendless. Follow me to my palace." 
 
 III. 
 
 The arched chamber was of great size 
 and beautiful proportion. The cieling, 
 encrusted with green fretwork, and 
 studded with silver stars, rested upon 
 clustered columns of white and green mar- 
 ble. In the centre of a variegated pave- 
 ment of the same material, a fountain rose 
 and fell into a green porphyry basin, and 
 by the side of the fountain, upon a couch 
 of silver, reposed Honain. 
 
 He raised his eyes from the illuminated 
 volume on which he had been long in-
 
 142 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 tent, he clapped his hands, and a Nubian 
 slave advanced, and folding- his arms upon 
 his breast, bowed in silence before his 
 lord. 
 
 " How fares the Hebrew boy, Al- 
 naschar ?" 
 
 " Master, the fever has not returned. 
 We gave him the potion ; he slumbered 
 for many hours, and has now wakened, 
 weak but well." 
 
 " Let him rise and attend me." 
 
 The Nubian disappeared. 
 
 " There is nothing stranger than Sym- 
 pathy/' soliloquized the physician of the 
 Caliph, with a meditative air ; " allresolves 
 itself into this principle, and I confess this 
 learned doctor treats it deeply and well. 
 An erudite spirit truly, and an eloquent 
 pen ; yet he refines too much. 'Tis too 
 scholastic. Observation will teach us
 
 OF ALROY. 143 
 
 more than dogma. Meditating upon my 
 passionate youth, I gathered wisdom. I 
 have seen so much that I have ceased 
 to wonder. Howe'er we doubt, there is 
 a mystery beyond our penetration. And 
 yet 'tis near our grasp. I sometimes 
 deem a step, a single step would launch 
 us into light. Here comes my patient. 
 The rose has left his cheek, and his deep 
 brow is wan and melancholy. Yet 'tis a 
 glorious visage — Meditation's throne ; and 
 Passion lingers in that languid eye. I 
 know not why, a strong attraction draws 
 me to this lone child. 
 
 " Gentle stranger, how fares it with 
 thee ?" 
 
 " Very well, my lord. I come to thank 
 thee for all thy goodness. My only 
 thanks are words, and those too weak 
 ones ; and yet the orphan's blessing is a 
 treasure."
 
 144 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " You are an orphan then ?" 
 
 " I have no parent but my father's 
 God. " 
 
 " And that God is—" 
 
 " The God of Israel." 
 
 " So I deemed. He is a Deity we all 
 must honour, if he be the great Creator, 
 whom we all allow." 
 
 " He is what he is, and we are what 
 we are — a fallen people, but faithful still." 
 
 " Fidelity is strength." 
 
 " Thy words are truth, and strength 
 must triumph." 
 
 " A prophecy !" 
 
 " Many a prophet is little honoured, 
 till the future proves his inspiration." 
 
 " You are young and sanguine/' 
 
 " So was my ancestor within the vale 
 of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslemin, 
 and this is foolishness."
 
 OF ALROY. 145 
 
 " I have read something, and can take 
 your drift. As for my faith, I believe in 
 Truth, and wish all men to do the same. 
 By the bye, might I inquire the name of 
 him who is the inmate of my house ?" 
 
 " They call me David." 
 
 " David, you have a ring, an emerald 
 cut with curious characters, Hebrew, I 
 believe." 
 
 "Tishere/' 
 
 " A fine stone, and this inscription 
 means — " 
 
 " A simple legend — < Parted, but one'— 
 the kind memorial of a brother's love." 
 
 " Your brother T 
 
 " I never had a brother." 
 
 " I have a silly fancy for this ring : 
 you hesitate. Search my palace, and 
 choose the treasure that you deem its 
 match." 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Noble sir, the gem is little worth ; 
 but were it such might deck a Caliph's 
 brow, 'twere a poor recompense for all 
 thy goodness. This ring is a trust rather 
 than a possession, and, strange to say, 
 although I cannot offer it to thee who 
 may command, as thou hast saved, the 
 life of its unhappy wearer, some stranger 
 may cross my path to-morrow, and almost 
 claim it as his own." 
 
 " And that stranger is — " 
 
 " The brother of the donor." 
 
 " The brother of Jabaster ?" 
 
 " Jabaster !" 
 
 " Even so. I am that parted brother." 
 
 " Great is the God of Israel ! Take the 
 ring. But what is this ? the brother of 
 Jabaster a turbaned chieftain ! — a Mosle- 
 min ! Say, oh ! but say that thou hast not 
 assumed their base belief, — say, oh ! but
 
 OF ALROY. 147 
 
 say, that thou hast not become a traitor 
 to our covenant, and I will bless the for- 
 tunes of this hour." 
 
 " I am false to no God. Calm thy- 
 self, sweet youth. These are higher ques- 
 tions than thy faint strength can master 
 now. Another time we'll talk of this, my 
 boy. At present of my brother and thy- 
 self. He lives and prospers?" 
 
 " He lives in faith ; the pious ever 
 prosper." 
 
 " A glorious dreamer ! Though our 
 moods are different, I ever loved him. 
 And thyself? Thou art not what thou 
 seemest. Tell me all. Jabaster's friend 
 can be no common mind. Thy form has 
 heralded thy fame. Trust me." 
 
 " I am Alroy." 
 
 " What! the Prince of our Captivity?" 
 
 " Even so." 
 
 H 2
 
 148 THE WONDROUS VALE 
 
 " The slayer of Alschiroch >" 
 
 " Ay!" 
 
 " My sympathy was prophetic. I 
 loved thee from the first. And what dost 
 thou here ? A price is set upon thy 
 head : thou knowest it ?" 
 
 " For the first time; but I am neither 
 astonished nor alarmed. I am upon the 
 Lord's business." 
 
 " What wouldst thou?" 
 
 " Free his people." 
 
 "The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. 
 Another victim to his reveries. I'll save 
 this boy. David, for thy name must not 
 be sounded within this city, the Sun is 
 dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek 
 the solace of the twilight breeze."
 
 ALROY. 149 
 
 IV. 
 
 " What is the hour, David ?" 
 
 u Near on midnight. I marvel if thy 
 brother may read in the stars our happy 
 meeting." 
 
 " Men read that which they wish. He 
 is a learned Cabalist." 
 
 " But what we wish comes from 
 above." 
 
 " So they say. We make our for- 
 tunes, and we call them Fate." 
 
 "Yet the Voice sounded — the daughter 
 of the Voice that summoned Samuel." 
 
 " You have told me strange things ; I 
 have heard stranger solved." 
 
 " My faith is a rock." 
 
 " On which you may split."
 
 150 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Art thou a Sadducee?" 
 
 " I am a man, who knows men." 
 
 " You are learned, but different from 
 Jabaster." 
 
 " We are the same, though different. 
 Day and Night are both portions of Time." 
 
 " And thy portion is — " 
 
 " Truth." 
 
 " That is, light." 
 
 " Yes ; so dazzling that it sometimes 
 seems dark." 
 
 " Like thy meaning." 
 
 " You are young." 
 
 " Is youth a defect ?" 
 
 " No, the reverse. But we cannot eat 
 the fruit while the tree is in blossom." 
 
 « What fruit ?" 
 
 " Knowledge." 
 
 " I have studied." 
 
 « What ?"
 
 OF ALROY. 151 
 
 " All sacred things." 
 
 " How know you that they are sacred >" 
 
 " They come from God." 
 
 " So does every thing. Is every thing 
 sacred ?" 
 
 " They are the deep expression of his 
 will." 
 
 " According toJabaster. Ask the man 
 who prays in yonder mosque, and he will 
 tell you that Jabaster's wrong." 
 
 " After all, thou art a Moslemin ?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 " I have told you — a man." 
 
 " But what dost thou worship }" 
 
 " What is worship?" 
 
 " Adoration due from the creature to 
 the Creator." 
 
 " Which is he ?" 
 
 " Our God."
 
 152 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 "The God of Israel?" 
 
 " Even so." 
 
 " A frail minority, then, burn him in- 
 cense." 
 
 " We are the chosen people." 
 
 " Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and con- 
 tumelies. Commend me to such choice." 
 
 " We forgot him, before he chastened us." 
 
 " Why did we ?" 
 
 " Thou knowest the records of our holy 
 race." 
 
 " Yes, I know them : like all records, 
 annals of blood." 
 
 " Annals of victory, that will dawn 
 again." 
 
 " If redemption be but another name 
 for carnage, I envy no Messiah." 
 
 " Art thou Jabaster's brother ?" 
 
 " So our mother was wont to say : a 
 meek and blessed woman."
 
 ALROY. 153 
 
 " Lord Honain, thou art rich and wise 
 and powerful. Thy fellow-men speak of 
 thee only with praise or fear, and both are 
 cheering. Thou hast quitted our antique 
 ark ; why — no matter. We'll not dis- 
 cuss it. Tis something, if a stranger, at 
 least thou art not a renegade. The world 
 goes well with thee, my Lord Honain. 
 But if instead of bows and blessings, thou, 
 like thy brethren, wert greeted only with 
 the cuff and curse ; if thou didst rise each 
 morning only to feel existence was dis- 
 honour, and to find thyself marked out 
 among surrounding men as something foul 
 and fatal : if it were thy lot, like theirs, 
 at best to drag on a mean and dull career, 
 hopeless and aimless, or with no other 
 hope or aim but that which is degrading, 
 and all this too with a keen sense of thy 
 intrinsic worth, and deep conviction of 
 
 H o
 
 154 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 superior race ; why then perchance 
 Honain might even discover 'twere worth 
 a struggle to be free and honoured." 
 
 " I pray your pardon, sir ; I thought 
 you were Jabasters pupil, a dreaming 
 student. I see you have a deep ambi- 
 tion ." 
 
 " I am a prince ; and I fain would be 
 a prince without my fetters/' 
 
 " Listen to me, Alroy/' said Honain 
 in a low voice, and he placed his arm 
 round his waist, " I am your friend. 
 Our acquaintance is very brief : no mat- 
 ter, I love you, I rescued you in injury, 
 I tended you in sickness, even now your 
 life is in my power, I would protect it 
 with my own. You cannot doubt me. 
 Our affections are not under our own 
 controul ; and mine are yours. The 
 sympathy between us is entire. You see
 
 OF ALROY. 1,55 
 
 me, you see what 1 am : a Hebrew, 
 though unknown, one of that despised, 
 rejected, persecuted people, of whom you 
 are the chief. I too would be free and 
 honoured. Freedom and honour are 
 mine, but I was my own Messiah. I 
 quitted in good time our desperate cause, 
 but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how 
 I fought. Youth could be my only ex- 
 cuse for such indiscretion. I left this 
 country, I studied, and resided among 
 the Greeks. I returned from Constanti- 
 nople with all their learning, some of 
 their craft. No one knew me. I as- 
 sumed their turban, and I am — the Lord 
 Honain. Take my experience, child, and 
 save yourself much sorrow. Turn your 
 late adventure to good account. No one 
 can recognize you here. I will introduce 
 you among the highest as my child, by
 
 156 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 some fair Greek. The world is before 
 you. You may fight, you may love, you 
 may revel . War, and women, and luxury, 
 are all at your command. With your 
 person and talents you may be Grand 
 Vizier. Clear your head of nonsense. 
 In the present disordered state of the em- 
 pire, you may even carve yourself out a 
 kingdom, infinitely more delightful than 
 the barren land of milk and honey. I 
 have seen it, child; a rocky wilder- 
 ness, where I would not let my courser 
 graze." 
 
 He bent down, and fixed his eyes upon 
 his companion with a scrutinizing glance. 
 The moonlight fell upon the resolved vi- 
 sage of the Prince of the Captivity. 
 
 " Honain," he replied, pressing his 
 hand, " I thank thee. Thou knowest 
 not me, but still I thank thee."
 
 OF ALROY. 157 
 
 " You are resolved then on destruc- 
 tion/' 
 
 " On glory, eternal glory." 
 
 " Is it possible to succeed ?" 
 
 " Is it possible to fail ?" 
 
 " You are mad ?" 
 
 " I am a believer." 
 
 " Enough. Not another word. You 
 have yet one chance. My brother has 
 saddled your enterprize with a condition, 
 and an impossible one. Gain the sceptre 
 of Solomon, and I will agree to be your 
 subject. You will waste a year in this 
 frolic. You are young, and can afford it. 
 I trust you will experience nothing worse 
 than a loss of time, which is, however, 
 very valuable. My duty will be, after all 
 your sufferings, to send you forth on your 
 adventures in good condition, and to pro- 
 vide you means for a less toilsome pilgrim-
 
 158 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 age than has hitherto been your lot. Trust 
 me you will return to Bagdad to accept 
 my offers. At present, the dews are de- 
 scending, and we will return to our 
 divan, and take some coffee." 
 
 V. 
 
 Some few days after this conversation 
 on the terrace, as Alroy was reclining in 
 a bower, in the beautiful garden of his 
 host, meditating on the future, some one 
 touched him on the back. He looked 
 up. It was Honain. 
 
 " Follow me," said the brother of Ja- 
 baster. 
 
 The prince rose, and followed him in 
 silence. They entered the house, and, 
 passing through the saloon already de-
 
 OF ALROY. 159 
 
 scribed, they proceeded down a long gal- 
 lery, which terminated in an arched flight 
 of broad steps, leading to the river. A 
 boat was fastened to the end of the stairs, 
 floating on the blue line of the Tigris 
 bright in the sun. 
 
 Honain now gave to Alroy a velvet 
 bag, which he requested him to carry, 
 and then they descended the steps and 
 entered the covered boat ; and, without 
 any directions to the rower, they were 
 soon skimming over the water. By the 
 sound of passing vessels and the occa- 
 sional shouts of the boatmen, Alroy, al- 
 though he could observe nothing, was 
 conscious that for some time their course 
 lay through a principal thoroughfare of 
 the city ; but by degrees the sounds be- 
 came less frequent, and in time entirely 
 died away, and all that caught his ear
 
 160 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 was the regular and monotonous stroke of 
 their own oar. 
 
 At length, after the lapse of nearly an 
 hour from their entrance, the boat stopped, 
 and was moored against a quay. The 
 curtains were withdrawn, and Honain 
 and his companion disembarked. 
 
 A low but very extensive building, 
 painted in white and gold arabesque, and 
 irregular but picturesque in form, with 
 many small domes, and tall thin towers, 
 rose amid groves of cypress on the bank 
 of the broad and silent river. The rapid 
 stream had carried them far from the city, 
 which was visible, but distant. Around 
 was no habitation, no human being. The 
 opposite bank was occupied by enclosed 
 gardens. Not even a boat passed. 
 
 Honain, beckoning to Alroy to accom- 
 pany him, but still silent, advanced to a
 
 OF ALROY. l6i 
 
 small portal, and knocked. It was in- 
 stantly opened by a single Nubian, who 
 bowed reverently as the visitors passed 
 him. They proceeded along a low and 
 gloomy passage, covered with arches of 
 fretwork, until they arrived at a door of 
 tortoiseshell and mother of pearl. 23 Here 
 Honain, who was in advance, turned 
 round to Alroy, and said, " Whatever 
 happen, and whoever may address you, 
 as you value your life and mine, do not 
 speak." 
 
 The door opened, and they found them- 
 selves in a vast and gorgeous hall. Pillars 
 of many coloured marbles rose from a 
 red and blue pavement of the same mate- 
 rial, and supported a vaulted, circular, and 
 highly-embossed roof of purple, scarlet 
 and gold. 24 Around a fountain, which 
 rose fifty feet in height from an immense
 
 162 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 basin of lapiz-lazuli, and reclining on 
 small yellow Barbary mats, was a group 
 of Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits 
 of scarlet and gold, 25 and armed with ivory 
 battle-axes, the white handles worked 
 in precious arabesque finely contrasting 
 with the blue and brilliant blades. 
 
 The commander of- the eunuch-guard 
 rose on seeing Honain, and pressing his 
 hand to his head, mouth, and heart, sa- 
 luted him. The physician of the Caliph 
 motioning Alroy to remain, advanced 
 some paces in front of him, and entered 
 into a whispering conversation with the 
 eunuch. After a few minutes, this offi- 
 cer resumed his seat, and Honain, beckon- 
 ing to Alroy to rejoin him, crossed the 
 hall. 
 
 Passing through an open arch, they 
 entered a quadrangular court of roses, 26
 
 OF ALROY. 163 
 
 each bed of flowers surrounded by a 
 stream of sparkling water, and floating 
 like an enchanted islet upon a fairy 
 ocean. The sound of the water and the 
 sweetness of the flowers blended together, 
 and produced a lulling sensation which 
 nothing but his strong and strange cu- 
 riosity might have enabled Alroy to re- 
 sist. Proceeding along a cloister of light 
 airy workmanship which connected the 
 hall with the remainder of the buildings, 
 they stood before a lofty and sumptuous 
 portal. 
 
 It was a monolite gate, thirty feet in 
 height, formed of one block of green and 
 red jasper, and cut into the fanciful un- 
 dulating arch of the Saracens. The con- 
 summate artist had seized the advantage 
 afforded to him by the ruddy veins of 
 the precious stone, and had formed them
 
 164 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 in bold relief into two vast and sinuous 
 serpents, which shot forth their crested 
 heads and glittering eyes at Honain and 
 his companion. 
 
 The physician of the Caliph taking his 
 dagger from his girdle, struck one of the 
 heads of the serpents thrice. The massy 
 portal opened with a whirl and a roar, 
 and before them stood an Abyssinian 
 giant, 27 holding in his leash a roaring lion. 
 
 w Hush ! Haroun," said Honain to the 
 animal, raising at the same time his arm, 
 and the beast crouched in silence. " Wor- 
 thy Morgargon, I bring you a remem- 
 brance." The Abyssinian showed his 
 tusks, larger and whiter than the lion's, 
 as he grinningly received the tribute of 
 the courtly Honain ; and he uttered a 
 few uncouth sounds, but he could not 
 speak, for he was a mute.
 
 OF ALROY. 165 
 
 The jasper portal introduced the com- 
 panions to a long and lofty and arched 
 chamber, lighted by high windows of 
 stained glass, hung with tapestry of silk 
 and silver, covered with prodigious car- 
 pets, and surrounded by immense couches. 
 And thus through similar chambers they 
 proceeded, in some of which were signs 
 of recent habitation, until they arrived 
 at another quadrangle nearly filled by a 
 most singular fountain which rose from a 
 basin of gold encrusted with pearls, and 
 which was surrounded by figures of every 
 rare quadruped 28 in the most costly ma- 
 terials. Here a golden tiger with flaming 
 eyes of ruby, and flowing stripes of opal, 
 stole, after some bloody banquet, to the 
 refreshing brink ; a cameleopard raised 
 its slender neck of silver from the centre 
 of a group of every inhabitant of the
 
 ; 
 
 166 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 forest, and brilliant bands of monkeys 
 glittering with precious stones, rested, in 
 every variety of fantastic posture, on the 
 margin of the basin. 
 
 The fountain itself was a tree of gold 
 and silver 29 spreading into innumerable 
 branches, covered with every variety of 
 curious birds, their plumage appropriately 
 imitated by the corresponding tints of 
 precious stones, and which warbled in 
 beautiful melody as they poured forth 
 from their bills the musical and refresh- 
 ing element. 
 
 It was with difficulty that Alroy could 
 refrain from an admiring exclamation, 
 but Honain, ever quick, turned to him, 
 with his finger pressed on his mouth, and 
 quitting the quadrangle, they entered the 
 gardens. 
 
 Lofty terraces, dark masses of cypress,
 
 OF ALROY. 167 
 
 winding walks of acacia, in the distance 
 an interminable paradise, and here and 
 there a glittering pavilion and bright 
 kiosk ! Its appearance on the river had 
 not prepared Alroy for the extent of the 
 palace itself. It seemed infinite, and it 
 was evident that he had only viewed a 
 very small portion of it. While they 
 were moving on, there suddenly arose 
 the sound of trumpets. The sound grew 
 nearer and nearer, louder and louder : 
 soon was heard the tramp of an approach- 
 ing troop. Honain drew Alroy aside. 
 A procession appeared advancing from a 
 dark grove of cypress. Four hundred 
 men led as many white blood-hounds 
 with collars of gold and rubies. 30 Then 
 came one hundred men, each with a 
 hooded hawk. Then six horsemen in 
 rich dresses. After them a single horse-
 
 168 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 man, mounted on a steed, marked on its 
 forehead with a star. 31 The rider was mid- 
 dle aged, handsome, and dignified. He 
 was plainly dressed, but the staff of his 
 hunting spear was entirely of diamonds 
 and the blade of gold. He was followed 
 by a company of Nubian eunuchs, with 
 their scarlet dresses and ivory battle- 
 axes, and the procession closed. 
 
 " The Caliph," whispered Honain, 
 when they had passed, placing at the 
 same time his finger on his lip, to pre- 
 vent any inquiry. This was the first in- 
 timation that had reached Alroy of what 
 he had already suspected, that he was a 
 visitor to the palace of the Commander of 
 the Faithful. 
 
 The companions turned down a wild 
 and winding walk, which, after some 
 time, brought them to a small and gently
 
 OF ALROY. 169 
 
 sloping lawn, surrounded by cedar trees 
 of great size. Upon the lawn was a 
 kiosk, a long and many windowed build- 
 ing, covered with blinds, and further 
 screened by an overhanging roof. The 
 kiosk was built of white and green mar- 
 ble, and ascended by a flight of steps the 
 length of the building, alternately of 
 white and green marble, and nearly 
 covered with rose trees. Honain as- 
 cended these steps alone, and entered the 
 kiosk. After a few minutes, he looked 
 out from the blinds and beckoned to 
 Alroy. David advanced, but Honain, 
 fearful of some indiscretion, met him, and 
 said to him in a low whisper between his 
 teeth, " Remember you are deaf, a mute, 
 and an eunuch." Alroy could scarcely 
 refrain from smiling, and the Prince of 
 the Captivity and the physician of the 
 vol. 1. 1
 
 170 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Caliph entered the kiosk together. Two 
 women, veiled, and two eunuchs of the 
 guard received them in an ante-chamber. 
 And then they passed into a room which 
 ran nearly the whole length of the kiosk, 
 opening on one side to the gardens, and 
 on the other supported by an ivory wall 
 with niches painted in green fresco, and 
 in each niche a rose-tree. Each niche, 
 also, was covered with an almost invi- 
 sible golden grate, which confined a 
 nightingale, and made him constant to 
 the rose he loved. At the foot of each 
 niche was a fountain, but instead of 
 water, each basin was replenished with 
 the purest quicksilver. 32 The roof of the 
 kiosk was of mother-of-pearl, inlaid with 
 tortoise-shell ; the pavement, a mosaic of 
 rare marbles and precious stones, repre- 
 senting the most delicious fruits, and the
 
 OF ALROY. 171 
 
 most beautiful flowers. Over this pave- 
 ment a Georgian page flung- at intervals 
 refreshing perfumes. At the end of 
 this elegant chamber was a divan of light 
 green silk, embroidered with pearls, and 
 covered with cushions of white satin and 
 gold. Upon one of these cushions, in 
 the middle of the divan, sat a lady, her 
 eyes fixed in abstraction upon a volume 
 of Persian poesy reclining on her knees, 
 one hand playing with a rosary of pearls 
 and emeralds/ 3 and the other holding a 
 long gold chain, which imprisoned a 
 white gazelle. 
 
 The lady looked up as Honain and his 
 companion entered. She was very young, 
 as youthful as Alroy. Her long light 
 brown hair, drawn off a high white fore- 
 head covered with blue veins, fell braided 
 with pearls over each shoulder. Her 
 
 1 2
 
 172 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 eyes were very large, and deeply blue. 
 Her nose small, but high and aquiline. 
 The fairness of her face was dazzling, 
 and when she looked up and greeted 
 Honain, her lustrous cheeks broke into 
 dimples, which were more fascinating 
 from their contrast with the general ex- 
 pression of her countenance, which was 
 haughty and derisive. The lady was 
 dressed in a robe of crimson silk, girded 
 round her waist by a green shawl, from 
 which peeped forth the diamond hilt of a 
 very small poignard. 34 Her round white 
 arms looked infinitely small, as they oc- 
 casionally flashed forth from their large 
 loose hanging sleeves. One was covered 
 with jewels, and the right arm was quite 
 bare. 
 
 Honain advanced, and bending, kissed 
 the lady's proffered hand. Alroy fell 
 into the back -ground.
 
 OF ALROY. 173 
 
 " They told me that the Rose of the 
 World drooped this morning," said the 
 physician, bending- again as he smiled, 
 " and her slave hastened at her command 
 to tend her." 
 
 " It was a south wind. The wind has 
 changed, and the Rose of the World is 
 better," replied the lady, laughing. 
 
 Honain touched her pulse. 
 
 " Irregular," said the physician. 
 
 " Like myself," said the lady. " Is 
 that a new slave ?" 
 
 " A recent purchase, and a great bar- 
 gain. He is good looking, has the ad- 
 vantage of being deaf and dumb, and is 
 harmless in every respect." 
 
 " 'Tis a pity," replied the lady ; " it 
 seems that all good-looking people are 
 born to be useless. I, for instance." 
 
 " Yet rumour whispers the reverse," 
 remarked the physician.
 
 174 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 ft How so ?" inquired the lady. 
 
 " The young King of Karasme." 
 
 (i Poh ! I have made up my mind to 
 detest him. A barbarian !" 
 
 " A hero !" 
 
 (i Did you ever see him ?" 
 
 " I have/' 
 
 " Handsome ?" 
 
 " An archangel." 
 
 " And sumptuous ?" 
 
 " Is he not a conqueror ? All the 
 plunder of the world will be yours." 
 
 " I am tired of magnificence. I built 
 this kiosk to forget it," 
 
 " It is not in the least degree splen- 
 did," said Honain, looking round with a 
 smile. 
 
 " No," answered the lady, with a self- 
 satisfied air; " here, at least, one can 
 forget one has the misfortune to be a 
 princess."
 
 OF ALROY. 175 
 
 " It is certainly a great misfortune," 
 said the physician. 
 
 " And yet it must be the only tolera- 
 ble lot," replied the lady. 
 
 " Assuredly," replied Honain. 
 
 " For our unhappy sex at least." 
 
 " Very unhappy/' 
 
 " If I were only a man !" 
 
 M What a hero you would be !" 
 
 " I should like to live in endless con- 
 fusion." 
 
 " I have not the least doubt of it." 
 
 " Have you got me the books ?" eagerly 
 inquired the Princess. 
 
 " My slave bears them," replied Honain. 
 
 * Let me see them directly." 
 
 Honain took the bag from Alroy, and 
 unfolded its contents — the very volumes 
 of Greek romances which Ali, the mer- 
 chant, had obtained for him.
 
 176 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " I am tired of poetry," said the Prin- 
 cess, glancing over the costly volumes, 
 and tossing them away. " I long to see 
 the world." 
 
 " You would soon be tired of that," re- 
 plied the Physician. 
 
 " I suppose common people are never 
 tired," said the Princess. 
 
 " Except with labour/' said the Phy- 
 sician ; " care keeps them alive." 
 
 " What is Care ?" asked the Princess, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " It is a god," replied the Physician, 
 " invisible, but omnipotent. It steals 
 the bloom from the cheek and lightness 
 from the pulse — it takes away the appe- 
 tite, and turns the hair grey." 
 
 " It is no true divinity, then," replied 
 the Princess, " but an idol we make our- 
 selves. I am a sincere Moslemin, and
 
 OF ALROY 177 
 
 will not worship it. Tell me some news, 
 Honain ." 
 
 u The young King of Karasme — * 
 
 " Again ! the barbarian ! You are in 
 his pay. I'll none of him. To leave one 
 prison, and to be shut up in another — 
 why do you remind me of it ? No, my 
 dear Hakim, if I marry at all, I will 
 marry to be free." 
 
 " An impossibility," said Honain. 
 
 " My mother was free till she was a 
 queen and a slave. I intend to end as 
 she began. You know what she 
 was." 
 
 Honain knew well, but he was too 
 politic not to affect ignorance. 
 
 " The daughter of a bandit," continued 
 the Princess, " who fought by the side of 
 her father. That is existence ! I must be 
 a robber. Tis in the blood. I want my 
 
 1 5
 
 178 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 fate foretold, Honain. You are an as- 
 trologer; do it." 
 
 " I have already cast your nativity. 
 Your star is a comet." 
 
 "That augurs well; brilliant 'confu- 
 sion and erratic splendor. I wish I were 
 a star/' added the Princess in a deep 
 rich voice, and with a pensive air ; * a 
 star in the clear blue sky, beautiful and 
 free. Honain, Honain, the gazelle has 
 broken her chain, and is eating my 
 
 roses/' 
 
 Alroy rushed forward and seized the 
 graceful truant. Honain shot him an 
 anxious look ; the Princess received the 
 chain from the hand of Alroy, and cast at 
 him a scrutinizing glance. 
 
 " What splendid eyes the poor beast 
 has got !" exclaimed the Princess. 
 
 " The gazelle ?" inquired the physician.
 
 OF ALROY. 179 
 
 " No, your slave/' replied the Princess. 
 " Why he blushes ! Were he not deaf as 
 well as dumb, I could almost believe he 
 understood me/' 
 
 " He is very modest," replied Honain, 
 rather alarmed ; " and is frightened at 
 the liberty he has taken." 
 
 " I like modesty," said the Princess ; 
 "it is so interesting. I am modest ; 
 don't you think so ?" 
 
 " Certainly," said Honain. 
 
 " And interesting ?" 
 
 "Very." 
 
 " I detest an interesting person. After 
 all, there is nothing like plain dul- 
 ness." 
 
 " Nothing," said Honain. 
 
 " The day flows on so serenely in such 
 society." 
 
 " It does," said Honain.
 
 180 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " No confusion ; no scenes." 
 
 " None." 
 
 " I make it a rule only to have ugly 
 slaves." 
 
 " You are quite right." 
 
 " Honain, will you ever contradict me ? 
 You know very well I have the hand- 
 somest slaves in the world." 
 
 c< Every one knows it." 
 
 " And do you know, I have taken 
 a very great fancy to your new purchase, 
 who, according to your account, is emi- 
 nently qualified for the post. Why, you 
 don't agree with me !" 
 
 "Why, yes ; I doubt not your Highness 
 would find him eminently qualified, and 
 certainly few things would give me 
 greater pleasure than offering him for 
 your acceptance ; but I got into such dis- 
 grace by that late affair of the Circassian, 
 that—"
 
 OFALROY. 181 
 
 " Oh ! leave it to me, leave it to me/' 
 said the Princess. 
 
 " Certainly," said the Physician, turn- 
 ing the conversation ; " and when the 
 young King of Karasme arrives at Bag- 
 dad, you can offer him to his majesty as 
 a present." 
 
 " Delightful ! and the King is really 
 handsome and young as well as brave ; 
 but has he any taste ?" 
 
 u You have enough for both." 
 
 " If he would but make war against the 
 Greeks !" 
 
 4 'Why so violent against the poor 
 Greeks }" 
 
 "You know they are Giaours. Be- 
 sides, they might beat him, and then I 
 should have the pleasure of being taken 
 prisoner." 
 
 " Delightful !"
 
 182 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 ctf Charming ! to see Constantinople, 
 and marry the Emperor/' 
 
 " Marry the Emperor !" 
 
 ' ' To be sure. Of course he would fall 
 in love with me." 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 i( And then — and then, I might conquer 
 Paris." 
 
 " Paris!" 
 
 " You have been at Paris ?" 35 
 
 "Yes.* 
 
 " The men are shut up there," said the 
 Princess, with a smile, " are they not ? 
 and the women do what they like ?" 
 
 "You will always do what you like," 
 said Honain, rising. 
 
 " You are going ?" 
 
 " My visits must not be too long." 
 
 " Farewell, dear Honain !" said the 
 Princess with a melancholy air. " You
 
 OF ALROY. 183 
 
 are the only person who has an idea in 
 all Bagdad, and you leave me. A mi- 
 serable lot is mine, to feel every thing, 
 and be nothing. These books and flowers, 
 these sweet birds, and this fair gazelle — 
 ah ! poets may feign as they please, but 
 how cheerfullly would I resign all these 
 elegant consolations of- a captive life for 
 one hour of freedom. I wrote some verses 
 on myself, yesterday ; take them, and get 
 them blazoned for me by the finest scribe 
 in the city ; letters of silver on a violet 
 ground with a fine flowing border ; I 
 leave the design to you. Adieu ! Come 
 hither, mute. 1 ' Alroy advanced to her 
 beckon, and knelt. " There, take that 
 rosary for thy master's sake, and those 
 dark eyes of thine." 
 
 The companions withdrew and reached 
 their boat in silence. It was Sunset.
 
 184 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 The musical and sonorous voice of the 
 Muezzin resounded from the innumerable 
 minarets of the splendid city. Honain 
 drew back the curtains of the barque. 
 Bagdad rose before them in huge masses 
 of sumptuous dwellings, seated amid 
 groves and gardens. An infinite popula- 
 tion, summoned by the invigorating twi- 
 light, poured forth in all directions. The 
 glowing river was covered with sparkling 
 caiques, the glittering terraces with showy 
 groups. Splendour, and power, and lux- 
 ury, and beauty, were arrayed before 
 them in their most captivating forms, 
 and the heart of Alroy responded to their 
 magnificence. 
 
 " A glorious vision !" said the Prince 
 of the Captivity. 
 
 " Very different to Hamadan," said 
 the physician of the Caliph.
 
 OF ALROY. 185 
 
 " To-day I have seen wonders," said 
 Alroy. 
 
 " The world is opening to you," said 
 Honain. 
 
 Alroy did not reply ; but, after some 
 minutes, he said, in a hesitating voice, 
 " Who was that lady ?" 
 
 " The Princess Schirene," replied Ho- 
 nain, " the favourite daughter of the 
 Caliph. Her mother was a Georgian and 
 a Giaour." 
 
 II. 
 
 The moonlight fell upon the figure of 
 Alroy lying on a couch ; his countenance 
 was hidden in his arm. He was motion- 
 less, but did not sleep. 
 
 He rose and paced the chamber with
 
 186 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 agitated steps ; sometimes he stopped, and 
 gazed on the pavement, fixed in abstrac- 
 tion. He advanced to the window, and 
 cooled his feverish brow in the midnight 
 air. 
 
 An hour passed away, and the young 
 Prince of the Captivity remained fixed 
 in the same position. Suddenly he turn- 
 ed, dashed to a tripod of porphyry, and 
 seizing a rosary of jewels, pressed it to 
 his lips. 
 
 cc The Spirit of my dreams, she comes 
 at last, the form for which I have sighed 
 and wept, the form which rose upon my 
 radiant vision when I shut my eyes 
 against the jarring shadows of this gloomy 
 world. 
 
 " Schirene ! Schirene ! here in this 
 solitude I pour to thee the passion long 
 stored up— the passion of my life, no 

 
 OF ALROY. 187 
 
 common life, a life full of deep feeling 
 and creative thought. Oh ! beautiful, 
 oh, more than beautiful, for thou to 
 me art as a dream unbroken — why art 
 thou not mine, why lose a moment in our 
 glorious lives, and baulk our destiny of 
 half its bliss ? 
 
 " Fool, fool, hast thou forgotten ? The 
 rapture of a prisoner in his cell, whose 
 wild fancy for a moment belies his fet- 
 ters ! The daughter of the Caliph and 
 a — Jew ! 
 
 " Give me my father's sceptre ! 
 
 " A plague on talismans ! Oh ! I need 
 no inspiration but her memory, no magic 
 but her name. By heavens, I'll enter 
 this glorious city a conqueror, or I'll 
 die. 
 
 " Why what is Life, for meditation 
 mingles ever with my passion — why,
 
 188 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 what is Life ! Throw accidents to the 
 dogs, and tear off the painted mask of 
 false society ! Here am I a hero ; with a 
 mind that can devise all things, and a 
 heart of superhuman daring, with youth, 
 with vigour, with a glorious lineage, 
 with a form that has made full many a 
 lovely maiden of our tribe droop her 
 fair head by Hamadan's sweet fount, and 
 I am — nothing. 
 
 " Out on Society ; 'twas not made for 
 me. I'll form my own, and be the deity 
 I sometimes feel. 
 
 " We make our fortunes and we call 
 them Fate. Thou saidst well, Honain. 
 Most subtle Sadducee ! The saintly blood 
 flowed in my fathers' veins, and they 
 did nothing ; but I have an arm formed 
 to wield a sceptre, and I will win 
 one. 

 
 OF ALROY. 189 
 
 " I cannot doubt my triumph. Tri- 
 umph is a part of my existence. I am 
 born for glory, as a tree is born to bear 
 its fruit, or to expand its flowers. The 
 deed is done. Tis thought of, and 'tis 
 done. Ill confront the greatest of my 
 diademed ancestors, and in his tomb. 
 Mighty Solomon ! he wedded Pharaoh's 
 daughter. Hah ! what a future dawns 
 upon my hope. An omen, a choice 
 omen ! 
 
 " Heaven and Earth are mingling to 
 form my fortunes. My mournful youth 
 I have so often cursed, I hail thee — thou 
 wert a glorious preparation ; and when, 
 feeling no sympathy with the life around 
 me, I deemed myself a fool, I find I was 
 a most peculiar being. By heavens, I 
 am joyful ; for the first time in my life 
 lam joyful. I could laugh, and fight^
 
 190 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 and drink. I am new-born ; I am an- 
 other being ; I am mad ! 
 
 " O ! Time, great Time, the world be- 
 lies thy fame. It calls thee swift. Me 
 thinks thou art wondrous slow. Fly on, 
 great Time, and on thy coming wings 
 bear me my sceptre ! 
 
 " All is to be. It is a lowering thought. 
 My fancy, like a bright and wearied 
 bird, will sometimes flag and fall, and 
 then I am lost. The young King of Ka- 
 rasme, a youthful hero ! Would he had 
 been Alschiroch ! My heart is sick even 
 at the very name. Alas ! my trials have 
 not yet begun. Jabaster warned me : 
 good, sincere, Jabaster! His talisman 
 presses on my frantic heart, and seems to 
 warn me. I am in danger. Braggart to 
 stand here, filling the careless air with 
 idle words, while all is unaccomplished.
 
 OF ALROY. 191 
 
 I grow dull. The young King of Ka- 
 rasme ! Why, what am I compared to 
 this same Prince ? Nothing, but in my 
 thoughts. In the full bazaar, they would 
 not deem me worthy even to hold his 
 stirrup or his slipper Oh ! this con- 
 test, this constant, bitter, never-ending 
 contest between my fortune and my 
 fancy ! Why do I exist ? or, if existing, 
 why am I not recognized as I would be ? 
 " Sweet Voice, that in Jabasters dis- 
 tant cave descended from thy holy home 
 above, and whispered consolation, breathe 
 again ! Again breathe thy still sum- 
 mons to my lonely ear, and chase away 
 the thoughts that hover round me. 
 Thoughts dark and doubtful, like fell 
 birds of prey hovering around an expect- 
 ed hero's fall, and gloating on their tri- 
 umph o'er the brave. There is something
 
 192 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 fatal in these crowded cities. Faith flou- 
 rishes in solitude." 
 
 He threw himself upon the couch, and, 
 leaning down his head, seemed lost in 
 meditation. He started up, and, seiz- 
 ing his tablets, wrote upon them these 
 words : — 
 
 " Honain, I have been the whole night 
 like David in the wilderness of Ziph ; 
 but, by the aid of the Lord, I have con- 
 quered. I fly from this dangerous city 
 upon his business, which I have too much 
 neglected. Attempt not to discover me, 
 and accept my gratitude."
 
 OF ALROY. 193 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 I 
 
 A scorching Sun, a blue and burning 
 sky, on every side lofty ranges of black 
 and barren mountains, dark ravines, deep 
 caverns, unfathomable gorges ! 
 
 A solitary being moved in the distance. 
 Faint and toiling, a pilgrim slowly clam- 
 bered up the steep and stony track. 
 
 The sultry hours moved on, the pil- 
 grim at length gained the summit of the 
 mountain, a small and rugged table land 
 strewn with huge masses of loose and 
 heated rock. All around was desolation: 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 no spring, no herbage ; the bird and 
 the insect were alike mute. Yet still it 
 was the summit : no loftier peaks frowned 
 in the distance ; the pilgrim stopped, and 
 breathed with more facility, and a faint 
 smile played over his worn and solemn 
 countenance. 
 
 He rested a few minutes, he took from 
 his wallet some locusts and wild honey, 
 and a small skin of water. His meal was 
 short as well as simple. An ardent de- 
 sire to reach his place of destination be- 
 fore night-fall, urged him to proceed. 
 He soon passed over the table-land, and 
 commenced the descent of the mountain. 
 A straggling olive tree occasionally ap- 
 peared, and then a group, and soon the 
 groups swell into a grove. His way 
 wound through the grateful and unac- 
 customed shade. He emerged from the
 
 OF ALROY. 195 
 
 grove, and found that he had proceeded 
 down more than half the side of the 
 mountain. It ended precipitously in a 
 very dark and narrow ravine, formed on 
 the other side by an opposite mountain, 
 the lofty steep of which was crested by a 
 city gently rising on a very gradual 
 slope. 
 
 Nothing could be conceived more bar- 
 ren, wild, and terrible, than the sur- 
 rounding scenery, unillumined by a sin- 
 gle trace of culture. The city stood like 
 the last gladiator in an amphitheatre of 
 desolation. 
 
 It was surrounded by a lofty turretted 
 wall, of an architecture to which the pil- 
 grim was unaccustomed : gates with draw- 
 bridge and portcullis, square towers, and 
 loop-holes for the archer. Sentinels, 
 clothed in steel, and shining in the sun- 
 
 K 2
 
 30 
 
 196 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 set, paced, at regular intervals, the cau- 
 tious wall, and on a lofty tower a stand- 
 ard waved, a snowy standard, with a red, 
 red cross ! 
 
 The Prince of the Captivity at length 
 beheld the lost capital of his fathers 
 
 II. 
 
 A few months back and such a specta- 
 cle would have called forth all the latent 
 passion of Alroy ; but time and suffering, 
 and sharp experience, had already some- 
 what curbed the fiery spirit of the He- 
 brew Prince. He gazed upon Jerusalem, 
 he beheld the City of David garrisoned 
 by the puissant warriors of Christendom, 
 and threatened by the innumerable ar- 
 mies of the Crescent. The two great 

 
 OF ALROY. 197 
 
 divisions of the world seemed contending 
 for a prize, which he, a lonely wanderer, 
 had crossed the desart to rescue. If his 
 faith restrained him from doubting the 
 possibility of his enterprize, he was at 
 least deeply conscious that the world was 
 a very different existence to what he had 
 fancied amid the gardens of Hamadan 
 and the rocks of Caucasus, and that if his 
 purpose could be accomplished, it could 
 only be effected by one means. Calm, 
 perhaps somewhat depressed, but full of 
 pious humiliation, and not deserted by 
 holy hope, he descended into the Valley 
 of Jehosaphat, and so slaking his thirst 
 at Siloah, and mounting the opposite 
 height, David Alroy entered Jerusalem 
 by the gate of Sion. 37 
 
 He had been instructed that the quarter 
 of his people was portioned near this
 
 198 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 entrance. He inquired the direction of 
 the sentinel, who did not condescend to 
 answer him. An old man in very shabby 
 robes, who was passing, beckoned to him. 
 
 " What want you, friend ?" inquired 
 Alroy. 
 
 " You were asking for the quarter of 
 our people. You must be a stranger in- 
 deed, in Jerusalem, to suppose that a 
 Frank would speak to a Jew. You 
 were lucky to get neither kicked nor 
 cursed." 
 
 " Kicked and cursed ! Why these 
 dogs- — " 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! for the love of God," 
 said his new companion, very much 
 alarmed. i( Have you lent money to their 
 captain that you speak thus? In Jeru- 
 salem our people speak only in a whis- 
 per." 

 
 OF ALROY. 199 
 
 " No matter : the cure is not by words. 
 Where is our quarter ?" 
 
 " Was the like ever seen ! Why he 
 speaks as if he were a Frank. I save 
 him from having his head broken by a 
 gauntlet, and " 
 
 " My friend, I am tired. Our 
 quarter ? ' 
 
 " Whom may you want ?" 
 
 « The chief Rabbi." 
 
 " You bear letters to him ?" 
 
 " What is that to you?" 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! You don't know 
 what Jerusalem is, young man. You 
 must not think of going on in this way. 
 Where do you come from ?" 
 
 " Bagdad." 
 
 " Bagdad ! Jerusalem is not Bagdad. 
 A Turk is a brute, but a Christian is a 
 demon."
 
 200 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " But our quarter, our quarter ?" 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! You want the chief 
 Rabbi ?" 
 
 « Ay ! ay !" 
 
 " Rabbi Zimri >» 
 
 " It may be so. I neither know nor 
 care." 
 
 " Neither knows nor cares ! This will 
 never do : you must not go on in this 
 way at Jerusalem. You must not think 
 of it." 
 
 " Fellow, I see thou art a miserable 
 prattler. Show me our quarter, and I 
 will pay thee well — or be off." 
 
 "Be off ! Art thou a Hebrew ? to 
 say ' be off ' to any one. You come from 
 Bagdad ! I'll tell you what — go back 
 to Bagdad. You will never do for Jeru- 
 salem." 
 
 " Your grizzled beard protects you.
 
 OF ALROY 201 
 
 Old fool, I am a pilgrim just arrived, 
 wearied beyond expression, and you 
 keep me here listening to your flat 
 talk !" 
 
 " Flat talk ! Why ! what would you >" 
 
 " Lead me to the Rabbi Zimri — if that 
 be his name." 
 
 " If that be his name ! Why every 
 one knows Rabbi Zimri, the chief Rabbi 
 of Jerusalem, the successor of Aaron. 
 We have our temple yet, say what they 
 like. A very learned Doctor is Rabbi 
 Zimri/' 
 
 " Wretched driveller. I am ashamed 
 to lose my patience with such a dotard." 
 
 " Driveller ! dotard ! Why, who are 
 you r 
 
 " One you cannot comprehend. With- 
 out another word, lead me to your 
 chief." 
 
 K 5
 
 202 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Chief! you have not far to go. I 
 know no one of the nation who holds 
 his head higher than I do here, and they 
 call me Zimri." 
 
 " What, the chief Rabbi™ that very 
 learned Doctor !" 
 
 '* No less ; I thought you had heard 
 of him." 
 
 " Let us forget the past, good Zimri. 
 When great men play the incognito, they 
 must sometimes hear rough phrases. It 
 is the Caliph's lot as well as yours. I 
 am glad to make the acquaintance of so 
 great a Doctor. Though young, and 
 roughly habited, I have seen the world a 
 little, and may offer next Sabbath in the 
 Synagogue more dirrhems than you would 
 perhaps suppose. Good and learned 
 Zimri, I would be your guest/' 
 
 " A very worshipful young man !
 
 OF ALROY. 203 
 
 And he speaks low and soft now ! But 
 
 it was lucky I was at hand. Good 
 
 what's your name ?" 
 
 " David." 
 
 ie A very honest name — good David. 
 It was lucky I was at hand when you 
 spoke to the sentinel, though. A Jew 
 speak to a Frank, and a sentinel too ! 
 Hah ! hah ! hah ! that is very good. 
 How Rabbi Maimon will laugh ! Faith 
 it was very lucky, now, was not it ?" 
 
 " Indeed, most fortunate." 
 
 " Well, that is candid ! Here ! this 
 way. Tis not far. We number few, 
 Sir, of our brethren here, but a better 
 time will come — a better time will come." 
 
 " I think so. This is your door ?" 
 
 "A humble one. Jerusalem is not 
 Bagdad, but you are welcome."
 
 204 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 III. 
 
 "King Pirgandicus 38 entered them/' 
 said Rabbi Maimon, " but no one since." 
 
 ce And when did he live ?'' inquired 
 Alroy. 
 
 " His reign is recorded in the Tal- 
 mud/' answered Rabbi Zimri, " but in 
 the Talmud there are no dates." 
 
 " A long while ago ?" said Alroy. 
 
 " Since the Captivity," answered Rabbi 
 Maimon. 
 
 " I doubt that," said Rabbi Zimri, " or 
 why should he be called king ?" 
 
 " Was he of the house of David ?" said 
 Alroy. 
 
 "Without doubt," said Rabbi Maimon ; 
 " he was one of our greatest kings, and 
 conquered Julius Csesar." 39
 
 OF ALROY. 205 
 
 " His kingdom was in the northern- 
 most parts of Africa," said Rabbi Zimri, 
 l( and exists to this day, if we could but 
 find it." 
 
 " Ay, truly," added Rabbi Maimon, 
 " the sceptre has never departed out of 
 Judah ; and he rode always upon a white 
 elephant." 
 
 " Covered with cloth of gold," added 
 Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 " And he visited the Tombs of the 
 Kings ?" 40 inquired Alroy. 
 
 " Without doubt," said Rabbi Maimon. 
 " The whole account is in the Talmud." 
 
 " And no one can now find them ?" 
 
 ■" No one," replied Rabbi Zimri ; " but 
 according to that learned Doctor, Moses 
 Hallevy, they are in a valley in the Moun- 
 tains of Lebanon, which was sealed up by 
 the Archangel Michael." 
 
 " The illustrious Doctor Abarbanel, of
 
 206 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Babylon/' said Rabbi Maimon, "gives 
 one hundred and twenty reasons in his 
 commentary on the Gemara to prove that 
 they sunk under the earth at the taking 
 of the Temple." 
 
 " No one reasons like Abarbanel of 
 Babylon," said Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 " The great Rabbi Akiba, of Punde- 
 bita, has answered them all/' said Rabbi 
 Maimon, " and holds that they were 
 taken up to Heaven." 
 
 " And which is right ?" inquired Rabbi 
 Zimri. 
 
 " Neither," said Rabbi Maimon. 
 
 " One hundred and twenty reasons 
 are strong proof," said Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 "The most learned and illustrious 
 Doctor Aaron Mendola, of Granada," said 
 Rabbi Maimon, " has shown that we 
 must look for the tombs of the kings in 
 the south of Spain/'
 
 OF ALROY. 207 
 
 " All that Mendola writes is worth at- 
 tention," said Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 " Rabbi Hillel, 41 of Samaria, is worth two 
 Mendolas any day," said Rabbi Maimon. 
 
 " 'Tis a most learned Doctor," said 
 Rabbi Zimri; " and what thinks he ?" 
 
 " Hillel proves that there are two 
 Tombs of the Kings," said Rabbi Maimon* 
 " and that neither of them are the right 
 
 ones." 
 
 " What a learned Doctor !" exclaimed 
 Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 " And very satisfactory/' remarked 
 Alrov. 
 
 " These are high subjects," continued 
 Maimon, his blear eyes twinkling with 
 complacency. " Your guest, Rabbi 
 Zimri, must read the treatise of the 
 learned Shimei, of Damascus, on ' Effect- 
 ing impossibilities/ " 
 
 " That is a work !" exclaimed Zimri.
 
 208 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " I never slept for three nights after 
 reading that work/' zaid Rabbi Maimon. 
 "It contains twelve thousand five hun- 
 dred and thirty-seven quotations from 
 the Pentateuch, and not a single original 
 observation ." 
 
 " There were giants in those days," said 
 Zimri ; u we are children now." 
 
 '* The first chapter makes equal sense, 
 read backward or forward," continued 
 Rabbi Maimon. 
 
 " Ichabod !" exclaimed Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 " And the initial letter of every sec- 
 tion is a cabalistical type of a king of 
 Judah !" 
 
 " The temple will yet be built," said 
 Rabbi Zimri. 
 
 " Ay, ay ! that is learning !" exclaimed 
 Rabbi Maimon ; " but what is the great 
 Treatise on Effecting Impossibilities to 
 that profound, admirable, and — "
 
 OF ALROY. 209 
 
 "Holy Rabbi !" said a youthful reader 
 of the synagogue, who now entered, " the 
 hour is at hand." 
 
 " You don't say so ! Learned Mai- 
 mon, I must to the synagogue. I could 
 sit here all day listening to you. Come, 
 David, the people await us." 
 
 Zimri and Alroy quitted the house, and 
 proceeded along the narrow hilly streets 
 to the chief temple of the Hebrews 
 
 " It grieves the venerable Maimon 
 much that he cannot join us/' said Rabbi 
 Zimri. " You have doubtless heard of 
 him at Bagdad ; a most learned doctor/' 
 
 Alroy bowed in silence. 
 
 " He bears his years w r ell. You would 
 hardly believe that he was my master." 
 
 " I perceive that you inherit much of 
 his erudition." 
 
 " You are kind. If he have breathed
 
 210 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 one year, Rabbi Maimon will be a hun- 
 dred and ten next Passover." 
 
 " I doubt it not." 
 
 " When he is gathered to his fathers, a 
 great light will be extinguished in Israel. 
 You wanted to know something about the 
 Tombs of the Kings ; I told you he was 
 your man. How full he was ! His mind, 
 sir, is an egg" 
 
 " A somewhat ancient one. I fear his 
 guidance will hardly bring me the en- 
 viable fortune of King Pirgandicus." 
 
 " Between ourselves, good David, talk- 
 ing of King Pirgandicus, I cannot help 
 fancying that the learned Maimon made 
 a slight mistake. I hold Pirgandicus 
 was only a prince. It was after the Cap- 
 tivity, and I know no authority for any 
 of our rulers since the destruction, as- 
 suming a higher title. Clearly a prince,
 
 OF ALROY. 211 
 
 eh ? But, though I would whisper it to 
 no one but you, I think our worthy friend 
 grows a little old. We should remember 
 his years, sir. A hundred and ten next 
 passover. 'Tis a great burthen." 
 
 " Ay ! with his learning added, a very 
 fearful burthen, indeed !" 
 
 st You have been a week in Jerusalem, 
 and have not yet visited our synagogue. 
 It is not of cedar and ivory, but it is still 
 a temple. This way. Is it only a week 
 that you have been here ? Why, you 
 look another man ! I shall never forget 
 our first meeting : you did not know me. 
 That was good, eh ? And when I told 
 you I was the chief Rabbi Zimri,howyou 
 changed ! You have quite regained your 
 appetite. Ah ! 'tis pleasant to mix once 
 more with our own people. To the left. 
 So ! we must descend a little. We hold
 
 212 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 our meeting's in an ancient cemetery. 
 You have a finer temple, I warrant me, 
 in Bagdad. Jerusalem is not Bagdad. 
 But this has its conveniences. 'Tis safe, 
 and we are not very rich, nor wish to 
 seem so." 
 
 i 
 
 IV. 
 
 A long passage brought them to a num- 
 ber of small, square, low chambers, lead- 
 ing into each other. 42 They were lighted 
 by brass lamps, placed at intervals in 
 vacant niches, that once held corpses, 
 and which were now soiled by the smoky 
 flame. Between two and three hundred 
 individuals were assembled in these cham- 
 bers, at first scarcely distinguishable by 
 those who descended from the broad day-
 
 OF ALROY. 213 
 
 light : but by degrees the eyesight became 
 accustomed to the dim and vaporous at- 
 mosphere, and Alroy recognized in the 
 final and more illumined chamber a high 
 cedar cabinet, the type of the ark, and 
 which held the sacred vessels, and the 
 sanctified copy of the law. 
 
 Standing in lines, with their heads mys- 
 tically covered, 43 the forlorn remnant of 
 Israel, captives in their ancient city, 
 avowed, in spite of all their sufferings, 
 their fidelity to their God, and notwith- 
 standing all the bitterness of hope de- 
 layed, their faith in the fulfilment of his 
 promises. Their simple service was com- 
 pleted, their prayers were read, their 
 responses made, their law exhibited, and 
 their charitable offerings announced by 
 their High Priest. After the service, the 
 venerable Zimri, opening a volume of the
 
 214 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Talmud, and fortified by the opinions of 
 all these illustrious and learned doctors, 
 the heroes of his erudite conversations 
 with the aged Maimon, expounded the 
 law to the congregation of the people. 44 
 
 " It is written/' said the Rabbi, " 'thou 
 shalt have none other God but me.' 
 Now know ye what our father Abraham 
 said when Nimrod ordered him to worship 
 fire ? ' Why not water,' answered Abra- 
 ham, ' which can put out fire? why not the 
 clouds, which can pour forth water ? why 
 not the winds, which can produce clouds ? 
 why not God, which can create winds ?' ' 
 
 A murmur of approbation sounded 
 throughout the congregation. 
 
 Ci Eliezer," said Zimri, addressing him- 
 self to a young Rabbi, " it is written, 
 that he took a rib from Adam when he 
 was asleep. Is God then a robber ?"
 
 OF ALROY. 215 
 
 The young Rabbi looked puzzled, and 
 cast his eyes on the ground. The con- 
 gregation was very perplexed and a little 
 alarmed. 
 
 ff Is there no answer ?" said Zimri. 
 
 " Rabbi," said a stranger, a tall, swar- 
 thy African pilgrim, standing in a cor- 
 ner, and enveloped in a red mantle, over 
 which a lamp threw a flickering light. 
 " Rabbi, some robbers broke into my 
 house last night, and stole an earthen 
 pipkin, but they left a golden vase in its 
 stead/' 
 
 "It is well said, it is well said," ex- 
 claimed the congregation. The applause 
 w T as loud. 
 
 " Learned Zimri," continued the Afri- 
 can, " it is written in the Gemara, that 
 there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell 
 in love with a beautiful damsel, and she
 
 21 6 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 scorned him. And the youth was so 
 stricken with his passion that he could 
 not speak ; but when he beheld her, he 
 looked at her imploringly, and she laugh- 
 ed. And one day the youth, not know- 
 ing what to do with himself, went out 
 into the desart; and towards night he 
 returned home, but the gates of the city 
 were shut. And he went down into the 
 valley of Jehosaphat, and entered the 
 tomb of Absalom and slept ; 45 and he 
 dreamed a dream : and next morning he 
 came into the city smiling. And the 
 maiden met him, and she said, c Is that 
 thou ; art thou a laugher >' And he an- 
 swered, ' Behold, yesterday being dis- 
 consolate, I went out of the city into the 
 desart, and I returned home, and the 
 gates of the city were shut, and I went 
 down into the valley of Jehosaphat, and
 
 OF ALROY. 217 
 
 I entered the tomb of Absalom, and I 
 slept, and I dreamed a dream, and ever 
 since then I have laughed/ And the 
 damsel said, ( Tell me thy dream/ And 
 he answered and said, e I may not tell 
 my dream only to my wife, for it regards 
 her honour/ And the maiden grew sad 
 and curious, and said, ' I am thy wife, 
 tell me thy dream/ And straightforth 
 they went and were married, and ever 
 after they both laughed/ Now, learned 
 Zimri, what means this tale, an idle jest 
 for a master of the law, yet it is written 
 by the greatest Doctor of the Captivity?" 
 
 " It passeth my comprehension/' said 
 the chief Rabbi. 
 
 Rabbi Eliezer was silent ; the congre- 
 gation groaned. 
 
 " Now hear the interpretation," said 
 the African. " The youth is our people 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 and the damsel is our lost Sion, and the 
 tomb of Absalom proves that salvation 
 can only come from the house of David. 
 Dost thou hear this, young man ?" said 
 the African, coming forward, and laying 
 his hand on Alroy, € ' I speak to thee, be- 
 cause I have observed a deep attention in 
 thy conduct/* 
 
 The Prince of the Captivity started, 
 and shot a glance at the dark visage be- 
 fore him, but the glance read nothing. 
 The upper part of the countenance of the 
 African was half concealed by masses of 
 dark matted hair, and the lower by his 
 uncouth robes. A flashing eye was its 
 only characteristic, which darted forth 
 like lightning out of a black cloud. 
 
 " Is my attention the only reason that 
 induces you to address me ?" inquired 
 Alroy.
 
 OF ALROY. 219 
 
 " Whoever gave all his reasons ?" re- 
 plied the African, with a laughing 
 sneer. 
 
 ? I seek not to learn them. Suffice it, 
 stranger, that how much soever you may 
 mean, as much I can understand." 
 
 e< Tis well : learned Zimri, is this thy 
 pupil ? I congratulate thee. I will match 
 him against the hopeful Eliezer." So 
 saying, the lofty African stalked out of 
 the chamber. The assembly also broke 
 up. Alroy would willingly have imme- 
 diately followed the African, and held 
 some further and more private conversa- 
 tion with him; but some minutes elapsed, 
 owing to the officious attentions of Zimri, 
 before he could escape ; and when he did, 
 his search after the stranger was vain. 
 He inquired among the congregation, but 
 none knew the African. He was no 
 
 l 2
 
 220 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 man's guest, and no man's debtor, and 
 apparently had never before been seen. 
 
 V. 
 
 The trumpet was sounding to close the 
 gates, as Alroy passed the Sion entrance. 
 The temptation was irresistible. He 
 rushed out, and ran for more than one 
 hundred yards without looking back, and 
 when he did, he had the satisfaction of 
 ascertaining that he was fairly shut out 
 for the night. The Sun had set, still the 
 Mount of Olives was flushed with the 
 reflection of his dying beams, but Jeho- 
 saphat at its feet was in deep shadow. 
 
 He wandered among the mountains for 
 some time, beholding Jerusalem from a 
 hundred different points of view, and
 
 OF ALROY. 221 
 
 watching* the single planets and cluster- 
 ing* constellations that gradually burst 
 into beauty or gathered into light. At 
 length, somewhat exhausted, he descend- 
 ed into the vale. The scanty rill of Siloah 46 
 looked like a thread of silver winding in 
 the moonlight. Some houseless wretches 
 were slumbering' under the arch of its 
 fountain. Several isolated tombs of con- 
 siderable size 47 rose at the base of Olivet, 
 and into the largest of these Alroy en- 
 tered. He entered through a narrow pas- 
 sage into a small square chamber. On 
 each side was an empty sarcophagus of 
 granite, one with its lid broken . Between 
 these the Prince of the Captivity laid his 
 robe, and, wearied by his ramble, soon 
 soundly slept. 
 
 After some hours he woke He fancied 
 that he had been wakened by the sound
 
 222 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 of voices. The chamber was not quite 
 dark. A straggling moonbeam fought its 
 way through an open fret-work pattern 
 in the top of the tomb, and just revealed 
 the dim interior. Suddenly a voice spoke 
 — a strange and singular voice. 
 
 " Brother, brother, the sounds of the 
 night begin." 
 
 Another voice answered, 
 
 (( Brother, brother, I hear them, too." 
 
 " The woman in labour \" 
 
 -The thief at his craft!" 
 
 " The sentinel's challenge !" 
 
 " The murderer's step !" 
 
 iC Oh ! the merry sounds of the night !" 
 
 " Brother, brother, let us come forth 
 and wander about the world." 
 
 i( We have seen all things. I'll lie 
 here and listen to the baying hound. 
 Tis music for a tomb."
 
 OF ALROY. 223 
 
 " Choice and rare. You are idle. I 
 like to sport in the starry air. Our hours 
 are few, they should be fair." 
 
 " What shall we see, Heaven or Earth ?" 
 
 " Hell for me, 'tis more amusing-/' 
 
 " As for me, I am sick of Hades. » 
 
 " Let us visit Solomon !" 
 
 " In his unknown metropolis ?" 
 
 " That will be rare." 
 
 u But where, oh ! where ?" 
 
 " Even a spirit cannot tell. But they 
 say, but they say — I dare not whisper 
 what they say." 
 
 " Who told you ?" 
 
 " No one. I overheard an Afrite whisp- 
 ering to a female Ghoul he wanted to 
 seduce." 
 
 " Hah, hah ! hah, hah ! choice pair, 
 choice pair ! We are more etherial." 
 
 " She was a beauty in her way. Her
 
 224 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 eyes were luminous, though somewhat 
 dank, and her cheek tinged with carna- 
 tion caught from infant blood/' 
 
 " Oh ! gay, oh ! gay ; what said 
 they ?" 
 
 " He was a deserter without leave from 
 Solomon's body-guard. The trull wrig- 
 gled the secret out." 
 
 " Tell me, kind brother." 
 
 " 111 show, not tell/" 
 
 " I pr'ythee tell me. 55 
 
 " Well, then, well. In Genthesma's 
 gloomy cave there is a river none has 
 reached, and you must sail, and you must 
 sail Brother !" 
 
 " Ay." 
 
 " Methinks I smell something too 
 earthly." 
 
 " What's that ?" 
 
 " The breath of man/'
 
 OF ALROY. 0,9,5 
 
 66 Scent more fatal than the morning 
 air ! Away, away !" 
 
 VI 
 
 In the range of mountains that lead 
 from Olivet to the river Jordan is the 
 great cavern of Genthesma, a mighty 
 excavation formed by the combined and 
 immemorial work of Nature and of Art. 
 For on the high basaltic columns are cut 
 strange characters and unearthly forms/ 8 
 and in many places the natural ornaments 
 have been completed by the hands of the 
 sculptor into symmetrical entablatures 
 and fanciful capitals. The work, they 
 say, of captive Dives and conquered 
 Afrites, for the great king. 
 
 It was midnight ; the cold full moon 
 
 L 5
 
 226 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 showered its brilliancy upon this narrow 
 valley, shut in on all sides by black and 
 barren mountains. A single being stood 
 at the entrance of the cave. 
 
 It was Alroy. Desperate and deter- 
 mined, after listening to the two spirits 
 in the tomb, he was resolved to penetrate 
 the mysteries of Genthesma. He took 
 from his girdle a flint and steel, with 
 which he lighted a torch and then he 
 entered. 
 
 The cavern narrowed as he cautiously 
 advanced, and soon he found himself at 
 the head of an evidently artificial gallery. 
 A crowd of bats rushed forward and ex- 
 tinguished his torch. 49 He leant down to 
 relight it, and in so doing observed that 
 he trod upon an artificial pavement. 
 
 The gallery was of great extent, with a 
 gradual declination. 50 Being in a straight
 
 OF ALROY. 227 
 
 line with the mouth of the cavern, 
 the moonlit scene was lon£ visible, but 
 Alroy on looking round now perceived 
 that the exterior was shut out by the 
 eminence that he had left behind him. 
 The sides of the gallery were covered 
 with strange and sculptured forms. 
 
 The Prince of the Captivity proceeded 
 along this gallery for nearly two hours. 
 A distant murmur of falling water, which 
 might have been distinguished nearly from 
 the first, increased in sound as he advanced, 
 and now, from the loud roar and dash at 
 hand, he felt that he was on the brink of 
 some cataract. It was very dark. His 
 heart trembled. He felt his footing ere 
 he ventured to advance. The spray sud- 
 denly leaped forward, and extinguished 
 his torch. His imminent danger filled 
 him with terror, and he receded some
 
 228 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 paces, but in vain endeavoured to re-il- 
 lumine his torch, which was soaked with 
 the water. 
 
 His courage deserted him . Energy and 
 exertion seemed hopeless. He was about 
 to deliver himself up to despair, when an 
 expanding lustre attracted his attention 
 in the opposing gloom. 
 
 A small and bright red cloud seemed 
 sailing towards him. It opened, dis- 
 charged from its bosom a silvery star, 
 and dissolved again into darkness. But 
 the star remained, the silvery star, and 
 threw a long line of tremulous light upon 
 the vast and raging rapid, which now, 
 fleet and foaming, revealed itself on all 
 sides to the eye of Alroy. 
 
 The beautiful interposition in his fa- 
 vour re-animated the adventurous pil- 
 grim. A dark shadow in the fore-
 
 OF ALROY. 229 
 
 ground, breaking the line of light shed 
 by the star upon the waters, attracted his 
 attention. He advanced, regained his 
 former footing, and more nearly examined 
 it. It was a boat, and in the boat, mute 
 and immovable, sat one of those vast, sin- 
 gular, and hideous forms, which he had 
 observed sculptured on the walls of the 
 gallery. 
 
 David Alroy, committing his fortunes 
 to the God of Israel, leapt into the boat. 
 
 VII. 
 
 And at the same moment the Afrite, 51 
 for it was one of those dread beings, 
 raised the oars, and the boat moved. The 
 falling waters suddenly parted in the 
 long line of the star's reflection, and the
 
 230 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 barque glided through their high and 
 severed masses. 
 
 In this wise they proceeded for a few 
 minutes, until they entered a beautiful 
 and moonlit lake. In the distance was 
 a mountainous country. Alroy examined 
 his companion with a feeling of curiosity 
 not unmixed with terror. It was re- 
 markable that Alroy could never succeed 
 in any way attracting his notice. The 
 Afrite seemed totally unconscious of the 
 presence of his passenger. At length 
 the boat reached the opposite shore of 
 the lake, and the Prince of the Captivity 
 disembarked. 
 
 He disembarked at the head of an 
 avenue of colossal lions of red granite 52 
 which extended far as the eye could 
 reach, and which ascended the side of 
 the mountain, which was cut into a flight
 
 OF ALROY. 231 
 
 of magnificent steps. The easy ascent 
 was in consequence soon accomplished, 
 and Alroy proceeding along the avenue 
 of lions, soon gained the summit of the 
 mountain. 
 
 To his infinite astonishment, he beheld 
 Jerusalem. That strongly-marked locality 
 could not be mistaken : at his feet was 
 Jehosaphat, Kedron, Siloah : he stood 
 upon Olivet ; before him was Sion. But 
 in all other respects, how different was 
 the landscape to the one he had gazed 
 upon a few days back, for the first time ! 
 The surrounding hills sparkled with vine- 
 yards, and glowed with summer palaces, 
 and voluptuous pavilions, and glorious 
 gardens of pleasure. The city, extend- 
 ing all over Mount Sion, was encompassed 
 with a wall of white marble, with battle- 
 ments of gold, a gorgeous mass of gates
 
 232 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 and pillars, and gardened terraces, lofty 
 piles of rarest materials, cedar, and ivory, 
 and precious stones, and costly columns 
 of the richest workmanship, and the most 
 fanciful orders, capitals of the lotus and 
 the palm, and flowing friezes of the olive 
 and the vine. 
 
 And in the front a mighty Temple 
 rose, with inspiration in its very form, 
 a Temple so vast, so sumptuous, there 
 required no priest to tell us that no 
 human hand planned that sublime mag- 
 nificence ! 
 
 " God of my fathers !" said Alroy, " I 
 am a poor, weak thing, and my life has 
 been a life of dreams and visions, and I 
 have sometimes thought my brain lacked 
 a sufficient master — where am I ? Do 
 I sleep or live ? Am I a slumberer or a 
 ghost ? This trial is too much." He
 
 OF ALROY. 233 
 
 sank down, and hid his face in his hands : 
 his over-exerted mind appeared to desert 
 him ; he wept hysterically. 
 
 Many minutes elapsed before Alroy 
 grew composed. His wild bursts of weep- 
 ing sank into sobs, and the sobs died off 
 into sighs. And at length, calm from 
 exhaustion, he again looked up, and lo ! the 
 glorious city was no more ! Before him 
 was a moon-lit plain, over which the 
 avenue of lions still advanced, and ap- 
 peared to terminate only in the moun- 
 tainous distance. 
 
 This limit, the Prince of the Captivity 
 at length reached, and stood before 
 a stupendous portal, cut out of the solid 
 rock, four hundred feet in height, and 
 supported by clusters of colossal Cary- 
 atides. 53 Upon the portal were engraven 
 some Hebrew characters, which, upon
 
 234 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 examination, proved to be the same as 
 those upon the talisman of Jabaster. And 
 so taking from his bosom that all-precious 
 and long-cherished deposit, David Alroy, 
 in obedience to his instructions, pressed 
 the signet against the gigantic portal. 
 
 The portal opened with a crash of 
 thunder louder than an earthquake. Pale, 
 panting, and staggering, the Prince of 
 the Captivity entered an illimitable hall, 
 illumined by pendulous and stupendous 
 balls of glowing metal. On each side of 
 the hall, sitting on golden thrones, was 
 ranged a line of kings, and as the pilgrim 
 entered, the monarchs rose, and took off 
 their diadems, and waved them thrice, 
 and thrice repeated, in solemn chorus, 
 " All hail, Alroy ! Hail to thee, brother 
 King. Thy crown awaits thee !" 
 
 The Prince of the Captivity stood
 
 OF ALROY. 235 
 
 trembling, with his eyes fixed upon the 
 ground, $nd leaning breathless against 
 a column. And when at length he had 
 a little recovered himself, and dared again 
 to look up, he found the monarchs were 
 reseated ; and, from their still and vacant 
 visages, apparently unconscious of his 
 presence. And this emboldened him, 
 and so staring alternately at each side of 
 the hall, but with a firm, perhaps des- 
 perate step, Alroy advanced. 
 
 And he came to two thrones which 
 were set apart from the others in the 
 middle of the hall. On one was seated a 
 noble figure, far above the common 
 stature, with arms folded and downcast 
 eyes. His feet rested upon a broken 
 sword, and a shivered sceptre, which told 
 he was a monarch, in spite of his dis- 
 crowned head.
 
 236 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 And on the opposite throne was a ve- 
 nerable personage, with a long flowing 
 beard, and dressed in white raiment. 
 His countenance was beautiful, although 
 ancient. Age had stole on without its 
 imperfections, and Time had only in- 
 vested it with a sweet dignity and solemn 
 grace. The countenance of the King 
 was upraised with a seraphic gaze, and 
 as he thus looked up on high, with eyes 
 full of love, and thanksgiving, and praise, 
 his consecrated fingers seemed to touch 
 the trembling wires of a golden harp. 
 
 And further on, and far above the rest, 
 upon a throne that stretched across the 
 hall, a most imperial presence straight- 
 way flashed upon the startled vision of 
 Alroy. Fifty steps of ivory, and each 
 step guarded by golden lions, 54 led to a 
 throne of jasper. A dazzling light blazed
 
 OF ALROY. 237 
 
 forth from the glittering diadem and 
 radiant countenance of him who sat upon 
 the throne — one beautiful as a woman, 
 but with the majesty of a god. And in 
 one hand he held a seal, and in the other 
 a sceptre. 
 
 And when Alroy had reached the foot 
 of the throne, he stopped, and his heart 
 misgave him. And he prayed for some 
 minutes in silent devotion, and without 
 daring to look up, he mounted the first 
 step of the throne, and the second, and 
 the third, and so on, with slow and 
 faltering feet, until he reached the forty- 
 ninth step. 
 
 The Prince of the Captivity raised his 
 eyes. He stood before the monarch face 
 to face. In vain Alroy attempted to at- 
 tract his attention, or to fix his gaze. 
 The large black eyes, full of supernatural 
 
 i
 
 238 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 lustre, appeared capable of piercing all 
 things, and illuminating all things, but 
 they flashed on without shedding a ray 
 upon Alroy. 
 
 Pale as a spectre, the pilgrim, whose 
 pilgrimage seemed now on the point of 
 completion, stood cold and trembling be- 
 fore the object of all his desires, and all 
 his labours. But he thought of his 
 country, his people, and his God, and 
 while his noiseless lips breathed the name 
 of Jehovah, solemnly he put forth his 
 arm, and with a gentle firmness grasped 
 the unresisting sceptre of his great an- 
 cestor. 
 
 And as he seized it, the whole scene 
 vanished from his sight !
 
 OF ALROY. 239 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Hours or years might have passed 
 away, as far as the sufferer was con- 
 cerned, when Alroy again returned to 
 self-consciousness. His eyes slowly open- 
 ed, he cast around a vacant stare, he was 
 lying in the Cavern of Genthesma. The 
 moon had set, but the morn had not 
 broken. A single star glittered over the 
 brow of the black mountains. He faintly 
 moved his limbs, he would have raised 
 his hand to his bewildered brain, but 
 found that it grasped a sceptre. The 
 memory of the past returned to him. 
 He tried to rise, and found that he was
 
 240 
 
 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 reposing in the arms of a human being. 
 He turned his head— he met the anxious 
 gaze of Jabaster !
 
 OF ALROY. 241 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 I. 
 
 " Your pace is troubled, uncle." 
 
 " So is my mind/' 
 
 " All may go well." 
 
 " Miriam, we have seen the best. 
 Prepare yourself for sorrow, gentle girl. 
 I care not for myself, for I am old, and 
 age makes heroes of us all. I have en- 
 dured, and can endure more. As we ap- 
 proach our limit it would appear our 
 minds grow callous. I have seen my 
 wealth, raised with the labours of a 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 thoughtful life, vanish in a morn : my 
 people, a fragile remnant, nevertheless a 
 people, dispersed, or what is worse. I 
 have wept for them, although no tear of 
 selfish grief has tinged this withered 
 cheek. And were I but alone— ay ! 
 there's the pang. The solace of my 
 days is now my sorrow." 
 
 " Weep not for me, dear uncle. Ra- 
 ther let us pray our God will not desert 
 us." 
 
 " We know not when we are well. 
 Our hours stole tranquilly along, and 
 then we murmured. Prospering, we 
 murmured, and now we are rightly 
 stricken. The legend of the past is 
 Israel's bane. The past is a dream ; and 
 in the waking present we should discard 
 the enervating shadow. Why would we 
 be free ? We murmured against cap-
 
 OF ALROY. 243 
 
 tivity. This is captivity : this damp, 
 dim cell, where we are brought to die. 
 
 " Oh ! Youth, rash Youth, thy being- 
 is Destruction. But yesterday a child — 
 it seems but yesterday I nursed him in 
 these arms, a thoughtless child — and now 
 our house has fallen by his deeds. I'll 
 not think of it ; 'twill make me mad." 
 
 " Uncle, dearest, dearest uncle, we 
 have lived together, and we will die to- 
 gether, and both in love : but, but, I 
 pray you,— speak no harsh word of 
 David." 
 
 " Shall I praise him ?" 
 
 " Say nothing. What he has done, 
 if done in grief, has been done all in 
 honour. Would you that he had spared 
 Alschiroch ?" 
 
 " Never ! I would have struck him 
 myself. Brave boy, he did his duty, and 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 I — I, Miriam, thy uncle, at whom they 
 wink behind his back and call him nig- 
 gard, was I wanting in that hour of 
 trial ? Was my treasure spared to save 
 my people ? Did I shrink from all the 
 toil and trouble of that time ? A trying 
 time, my Miriam, but compared with 
 this, the building of the Temple." 
 
 " You were then what you have ever 
 been, the best and wisest. And since our 
 fathers' God did not desert us, even in 
 that wilderness of wildest woe, I offer 
 gratitude in present faith, and pay him 
 for past mercies by my prayers for 
 more." 
 
 "Well, well; life must end. The 
 hour approaches when we must meet our 
 rulers and mock trial ; precious justice 
 that begins in threats and ends in tor- 
 ture. You are silent, Miriam."
 
 OF ALROY. 245 
 
 " I am speaking* to my God/' 
 
 " What is that noise ? A figure moves 
 behind the dusky grate. Our gaoler. 
 No, no, it is Caleb ! Faithful child, I 
 fear you have perilled much." 
 
 " I enter with authority, my Lord, 
 and bear good tidings." 
 
 " He smiles ! Is't possible ? Speak 
 on, speak on !" 
 
 " Alroy has captured the Harem of our 
 governor, as they journeyed from Bagdad 
 to this city, guarded by his choicest 
 troops. And he has sent to offer that 
 they shall be exchanged for you and for 
 your household. And Hassan has an- 
 swered that his women shall owe their 
 freedom to nothing but his sword. But 
 in the meantime it is agreed between him 
 and the messenger of your nephew, that 
 both companies of prisoners shall be
 
 246 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 treated with all becoming' courtesy. 
 You, therefore, are remanded to your 
 palace, and the trumpet is now sounding 
 before the great mosque to summon all 
 the host against Alroy, whom Hassan has 
 vowed to bring to Hamadan dead or 
 alive." 
 
 " The harem of the governor, guarded 
 too by his choicest troops. Tis a great 
 deed. He did remember us. Faithful 
 boy ! The harem of the governor ! — his 
 choicest troops ! 'Tis a very great deed. 
 Methinks the Lord is with him. He has 
 his great father's heart. Only think of 
 David — a child ! I nursed him — often. 
 Caleb ! Can this be David, our David, 
 a child, a girl ! Yet he struck Alschiroch ! 
 Miriam ! where is she ? Worthy Caleb, 
 look to your mistress; she has fallen. 
 Dead, quite dead. Fetch water. 'Tis
 
 OF ALROY. 047 
 
 not very pure — but we shall be in our 
 palace soon. The harem of the gover- 
 nor ! I can't believe it. Sprinkle, 
 sprinkle. David take them prisoners ! 
 Why, when they pass, we are obliged to 
 turn our heads, and dare not look. More 
 water : Til rub her hand. Tis warmer ! 
 Her eyes open ! Miriam, choice news, 
 my darling ! The harem of the gover- 
 nor ! — I'll not believe it !" 
 
 II. 
 
 " Once more within our walls, Caleb. 
 Life is a miracle. I feel young again. 
 This is home ; and yet I am a prisoner. 
 You said the host were assembling ; he 
 can have no chance. Think you, Caleb, 
 he has any chance ? I hope he will die.
 
 248 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 I would not have him taken. I fear their 
 tortures. We will die too ; we will all 
 die. Now I am out of that dungeon, 
 methinks I even could fight. Is it true 
 that he has joined with robbers ?" 
 
 " I saw the messenger, and learnt that 
 he first repaired to some bandits in the 
 ruins in the desart. He had become ac- 
 quainted with them in his pilgrimage. 
 They say their leader is one of our 
 people." 
 
 " I am glad of that. He can eat with 
 him. I would not have him eat unclean 
 things with the Ishmaelites. ,, 
 
 " Lord, sir ! our people gather to him 
 from all quarters. Tis said Jabaster, the 
 great Cabalist, has joined him from the 
 mountains with ten thousand men." 
 
 " The great Jabaster ! then there is 
 some chance. I know Jabaster well. He
 
 OF ALROY. 24$ 
 
 is too wise to join a desperate cause. Ar't 
 sure about Jabaster ? Tis a great name, 
 a very potent spirit. I have heard such 
 things of that Jabaster, sir, would make 
 you stare like Saul before the spirit ! 
 Only think of our David, Caleb, making 
 all this noise ! I am full of hope. I feel 
 not like a prisoner. He beat the Harem 
 guard, and now he has got Jabaster, 
 he will beat them all." 
 
 " The messenger told me he captured 
 the Harem only to free his uncle and his 
 sister." 
 
 " He ever loved me ; I have done my 
 duty to him ; I think I have. Jabaster ! 
 why, man, the name is a spell ! There are 
 men at Bagdad who will get up in the 
 night to join Jabaster. I hope David will 
 follow his counsels in all things. I would 
 
 M 5
 
 250 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 I had seen his servant, I could have sent 
 him a message " 
 
 " Lord, sir ! the Prince Alroy has no 
 great need of councillors, I can tell you. 
 'Tis said he bears the sceptre of great 
 Solomon, which he himself obtained in 
 the unknown tombs of Palestine/ 1 
 
 " The sceptre of Solomon !— could I but 
 believe it ! Tis an age of wonders ! 
 Where are we ? Call for Miriam, I'll 
 tell her this. Only think of David — a 
 mere child — our David with the sceptre 
 of Solomon ! and Jabaster too ! I have 
 great faith. The Lord confound his 
 enemies !"
 
 OF ALROY. &51 
 
 III. 
 
 " Gentle Rachel, I fear I trouble you ; 
 sweet Beruna, I thank you for your zeal. 
 I am better now ; the shock was great. 
 These are strange tidings, maidens." 
 
 " Yes, dear lady ! who would have 
 thought of your brother turning out a 
 captain ?" 
 
 " I am sure I always thought he was 
 the quietest person in the world/' said 
 Beruna, " though he did kill Alschiroch." 
 
 " One could never get a word out of 
 him," said Rachel. 
 
 " He was always moping alone/' said 
 Beruna. 
 
 " And when one spoke to him he 
 always turned away," said Leah.
 
 252 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 " Or blushed/' added Imra. 
 
 " Well, for my part," said the beauti- 
 ful Bathsheba, " I always thought Prince 
 David was a genius. He had such beau- 
 tiful eyes !" 
 
 (( I hope he will conquer Hassan/' said 
 Rachel. 
 
 " So do I" said Beruna. 
 
 " I wonder what he has done with the 
 Harem/' said Leah. 
 
 " I don't think he will dare to speak to 
 them/' said Imra. 
 
 " You are very much mistaken/' said 
 Bathsheba. 
 
 " Hark !" said Miriam. 
 
 " Tis Hassan/' said Bathsheba ; "may 
 he never return !'' 
 
 The wild drum of the Seljuks sounded, 
 then a flourish of their fierce trumpets, 
 and soon the tramp of horse. Behind the
 
 OF ALROY. 253 
 
 blinds of their chamber, Miriam and her 
 maidens beheld the magnificent troop of 
 turbaned horsemen, who, glittering* with 
 splendid armour and bright shawls, and 
 proudly bounding on their fiery steeds, 
 now went forth to crush and conquer 
 the only hope of Israel. Upon an Arab, 
 darker than night, rode the superb Has- 
 san, and as he passed the dwelling of his 
 late prisoners, whether from the exulting 
 anticipation of coming triumph, or from 
 a soft suspicion that, behind that lattice, 
 bright eyes and brilliant faces were gazing 
 on his state, the haughty but handsome 
 Seljuk flourished his scimetar over his 
 head, as he threw his managed steed into 
 attitudes that developed the skill of its 
 rider. 
 
 " He is handsomer than Alschiroch," 
 said Rachel.
 
 £54 
 
 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 ie What a shawl !" said Beruna. 
 
 " His scimetar was like lightning," said 
 Leah. 
 
 " And his steed like thunder/ 5 said 
 Imra. 
 
 " The evil eye fall on him \" said 
 Bathsheba. 
 
 " Lord, remember David!" exclaimed 
 Miriam; " and all his afflictions \" 
 
 IV. 
 
 The deserted city of the wilderness 
 presented a very different appearance to 
 that which met the astonished gaze of 
 Alroy when he first beheld its noble tur- 
 rets, and wandered in its silent streets of 
 palaces. 
 
 Without the gates was pitched a nu-
 
 OF ALROY. 255 
 
 merous camp of those low black tents 
 common among the Kourds and Turk- 
 mans ; the principal street was full of 
 busy groups engaged in all the prepara- 
 tions of warfare, and all the bustling ex- 
 pedients of an irregular and adventurous 
 life ; steeds were stalled in ruined cham- 
 bers, and tall camels raised their still 
 visages among the clustering columns, or 
 crouched in kneeling tranquillity amid 
 fallen statues and prostrate obelisks. 
 
 Two months had scarcely elapsed since 
 Alroy and Jabaster had sought Scherirah 
 in his haunt, and announced to him their 
 sacred mission. The callous heart of 
 him, whose "mother was a Jewess," had 
 yielded to their inspired annunciations. 
 He embraced their cause with all the fer- 
 vour of conversion, and his motley band 
 were not long sceptical of a creed which,
 
 Q56 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 while it assuredly offered danger and ad- 
 venture, held out the prospects of wealth 
 and even empire. From the city of the 
 wilderness the new Messiah sent forth his 
 messengers to the neighbouring cities to 
 announce his advent to his brethren in 
 captivity. The Hebrews, a proud and 
 stiff-necked race, ever prone to rebellion, 
 received the announcement of their fa- 
 vourite Prince with transport. The de- 
 scendant of David, and the slayer of 
 Alschiroch, had double claims upon their 
 confidence and allegiance, and the flower 
 of the Hebrew youth in the neighbouring 
 cities of the Caliphate repaired in crowds 
 to pay their homage to the recovered 
 sceptre of Solomon. 
 
 The affair was at first treated by the 
 government with contempt, and the sul- 
 tan of the Seljuks contented himself with
 
 OF ALROY. 257 
 
 setting a price upon the head of the mur- 
 derer of his brother ; but when several 
 cities had been placed under contribu- 
 tion, and more than one Moslemin cara- 
 van stopped and plundered in the name 
 of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of 
 Jacob, orders were despatched from Bag- 
 dad to the new governor of Hamadan, 
 Hassan Subah, to suppress the robbers, 
 or the rebels, and to send David Alroy 
 dead or alive to the capital. 
 
 The Hebrew malcontents were well ap- 
 prised by their less adventurous, but still 
 sympathizing, brethren of every thing 
 that took place at the head-quarters of 
 the enemy. Spies arrived on the same 
 day at the city of the wilderness who in- 
 formed Alroy that his uncle was thrown 
 into a dungeon at Hamadan, and that a 
 body of chosen troops were about to
 
 258 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 escort a royal harem from Bagdad into 
 Persia. 
 
 Alroy attacked the escort in person, 
 utterly discomfited them, and captured 
 their charge. It proved to be the harem 
 of the Governor of Hamadan, and if for 
 a moment, the too sanguine fancy of the 
 captor experienced a passing pang of dis- 
 appointment, the prize at least obtained, 
 as we have seen, the freedom and security 
 of his dear, though distant, friends. This 
 exploit precipitated the expedition which 
 was preparing at Hamadan for his de- 
 struction. The enraged Hassan Subah 
 started from his divan, seized his sci- 
 metar, and without waiting for the aux- 
 iliaries he had summoned from the 
 neighbouring chieftains, called to horse, 
 and at the head of two thousand of the 
 splendid Seljukian cavalry, hurried to
 
 OF ALROY. 259 
 
 vindicate his love, and satiate his re- 
 venge. 
 
 Within the amphitheatre which he 
 first entered as a prisoner, Alroy sat in 
 council. On his right was Jabaster, Sche- 
 rirah on his left. A youth, little his 
 senior, but tall as a palm tree, and strong 
 as a young lion, was the fourth captain. 
 In the distance, some standing, some re- 
 clining, were about fifty men completely 
 armed. 
 
 " Are the people numbered, Abner r" 
 inquired Alroy of the youth. 
 
 " Even so : three hundred effective 
 horsemen, and two thousand footmen ; 
 but the footmen lack arms." 
 
 " The Lord will send them in good 
 time," said Jabaster, " meanwhile let them 
 continue to make javelins." 
 
 " Trust in the Lord," murmured Sche-
 
 260 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 rirah, bending his head, with his eyes fixed 
 on the ground. 
 
 A loud shout was heard throughout the 
 city. Alroy started from his carpet. The 
 messenger had returned. Pale and hag- 
 gard, covered with sweat and sand, the 
 faithful envoy was borne into the amphi- 
 theatre almost upon the shoulders of the 
 people. In vain the guard endeavoured 
 to stem the passage of the multitude. 
 They clambered up the tiers of arches, 
 they filled the void and crumbling seats 
 of the antique circus, they supported 
 themselves upon each other's shoulders, 
 they clung to the capitals of the lofty 
 columns. The whole multitude had as- 
 sembled to hear the intelligence ; the 
 scene recalled the ancient purpose of 
 the building, and Alroy and his fellow- 
 warriors seemed like the gladiators of some 
 old spectacle.
 
 OF ALROY. 2(31 
 
 V Speak/* said Alroy, " speak the 
 worst. No news can be bitter to those 
 whom the Lord will avenge." 
 
 f Ruler of Israel ! thus saith Hassan 
 Subah," answered the messenger ; " my 
 harem shall owe their freedom to nothing 
 but my sword. I treat not with rebels, 
 but I war not with age or woman ; and 
 between Bostenay and his household on 
 one side, and the prisoners of thy master 
 on the other, let there be peace. Go, tell 
 Alroy, I will seal it in his best blood. 
 And lo ! thy uncle and thy sister are 
 again in their palace." 
 
 Alroy placed his hand for a moment 
 to his eyes, and then instantly resuming 
 his self-possession, he inquired as to the 
 movements of the enemy. 
 
 " I have crossed the desart on a swift 
 dromedary 56 lent to me by Shelomi of the
 
 Q6<2 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 Gate, whose heart is with our cause. I have 
 not tarried, neither have I slept. Ere to- 
 morrow's sunset, the Philistines will be 
 here, led by Hassan Subah himself. The 
 Lord of Hosts be with us ! Since we con- 
 quered Canaan, Israel hath not struggled 
 with such a power !" 
 
 A murmur ran through the assembly. 
 Men exchanged inquiring glances, and 
 involuntarily pressed each other's arms. 
 
 " The trial has come," said a middle- 
 aged Hebrew, who had fought twenty 
 years ago with Jabaster. 
 
 " Let me die for the Ark !" said a 
 young enthusiast of the band of Abner. 
 
 " I thought we should get into a 
 scrape," whispered Kisloch, the Kourd, to 
 Calidas, the Indian. " What could have 
 ever induced us to give up robbing in a 
 quiet manner ?"
 
 OF ALROY. 263 
 
 " And turn Jews !" said the Guebre, 
 with a sneer. 
 
 " Look at Scherirah," said the Negro, 
 grinning. "If he is not kissing the 
 sceptre of Solomon !" 
 
 " I wish to heaven he had only hung 
 Alroy the first time he met him/' said 
 Calidas. 
 
 " Sons of the Covenant !" exclaimed 
 Alroy, " the Lord hath delivered them 
 into our hands. To-morrow eve we 
 march to Hamadan !" 
 
 A cheer followed this exclamation. 
 
 " It is written," said Jabaster, opening 
 a volume, u e Lo ! I will defend this city, 
 to save it, for mine own sake, and for my 
 servant David's sake. 
 
 " ' And it came to pass that night that 
 the angel of the Lord went out, and smote 
 in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred
 
 264 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 four score and five thousand : and when 
 they arose early in the morning, behold ! 
 they were all dead corpses.' 
 
 " Now, as I was gazing upon the stars 
 this morn, reading that celestial alphabet 57 
 known to the true Cabalist, behold ! the 
 star of the house of David and seven other 
 stars moved, and met together, and 
 formed into a circle. And the word they 
 formed was a mystery to me ; but lo ! I 
 have opened the book, and each star is 
 the initial letter of each line of the 
 Targum that I have now read to you. 
 Therefore the fate of Sennacherib is the 
 fate of Hassan Subah !" 
 
 " Trust in him at all times, ye 
 people; pour out your heart before 
 him : God is a refuge for us. 
 Selah r 
 
 Suddenly a female form appeared upon
 
 OF ALROY. 265 
 
 the very top of the amphitheatre, upon 
 the slight remains of the uppermost tier, of 
 which a solitary arch alone was left. The 
 chorus instantly died away, every tongue 
 was silent, every eye fixed. Hushed, mute, 
 and immoveable, even Kisloch and his 
 companions were appalled as they gazed 
 upon Esther the Prophetess. 
 
 Her eminent position, her imposing ac- 
 tion, the flashing of her immense eyes, her 
 beautiful, but awful countenance, her black 
 hair, that hung almost to her knees, and 
 the white light of the moon, just rising 
 over the opposite side of the amphi- 
 theatre, and which threw a silvery flash 
 upon her form, and seemed to invest her 
 with some miraculous emanation, while 
 all beneath her were in deep gloom, all 
 these circumstances combined, rendered 
 her an object of universal interest and at- 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 tention, while in a powerful, but very 
 high voice, she thus addressed them. 
 
 " They come, they come ! But will 
 they go ? Lo ! hear ye this, O house of 
 Jacob, which are called by the name of 
 Israel, and are come forth out of the 
 waters of Judah ! I hear their drum in 
 the desart, and the voice of their 
 trumpets is like the wind of Eve, but 
 a decree hath gone forth, and it says, 
 that a mortal shall be more precious 
 than fine gold, yea, a man than the rich 
 ore of Ophir. 
 
 " They come, they come ! But will 
 they go ? I see the flash of their scimi- 
 tars, I mark the prancing of their cruel 
 steeds ; but a decree hath gone forth, and 
 it says, a gleaning shall be left among 
 them, as in the shaking of the olive tree ; 
 two or three berries on the top of the up-
 
 OF ALROY. 267 
 
 permost bough ; four or five on the strag- 
 gling branches. 
 
 " They come, they come ! But will 
 they go ? Lo ! a decree hath gone forth, 
 and it says, Hamadan shall be to thee for 
 a spoil, and desolation shall fall upon 
 Babylon. And there shall the wild beasts 
 of the desart lodge, and howling monsters 
 shall fill their houses, and there shall the 
 daughters of the ostrich dwell, and there 
 shall the screech-owl pitch her tent, and 
 there shall the night raven lay her eggs, 
 and there shall the satyrs hold their 
 revels. And wolves shall howl to one 
 another in their palaces, and dragons in 
 their voluptuous pavilions. Her time is 
 near at hand, her days shall not be pro- 
 longed, the reed and the lotus shall wither 
 in her rivers, and the meadows by her 
 canals shall be as the sands of the desart. 
 
 N 2
 
 268 THE WONDROUS TALE 
 
 For, is it a light thing that the Lord 
 should send his servant to raise up the 
 tribes of Jacob, and to restore the pre- 
 served of Israel ? Sing, O heavens, and 
 be joyful, O earth, and break forth into 
 singing, O mountains, for the Lord hath 
 comforted his people, and will have mercy 
 upon his afflicted !" 
 
 She ceased, she descended the precipi- 
 tous side of the amphitheatre, with rapid 
 steps, vaulting from tier to tier, and 
 bounding with wonderful agility from 
 one mass of ruin to the other. At length 
 she reached the level ; and then, foaming 
 and panting, she rushed to Alroy, threw 
 herself upon the ground, embraced his 
 feet, and wiped off the dust from his san- 
 dals with her hair. 
 
 The assembly broke into long and loud 
 acclamations of supernatural confidence,
 
 OF ALROY. 269 
 
 and sanguine enthusiasm. They beheld 
 their Messiah wave his miraculous sceptre. 
 They thought of Hassan Subah and his 
 Seljuks only as of victims, and of to-mor- 
 row only as of a day which was to com- 
 mence a new aera of Triumph, Freedom, 
 and Empire !
 
 NOTES
 
 NOTES 
 
 TO VOLUME THE FIRST. 
 
 Note 1. — Page 7. 
 We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder. 
 Hebrew Proverb. 
 
 Note 2. — Page 28. 
 Our walls are hung with flowers you love. 
 
 It is the custom of the Hebrews in many of their 
 festivals, especially in the feast of the Tabernacle, to 
 hang the walls of their chambers with garlands of 
 flowers. 
 
 Note 3.— Page 32. 
 The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai. 
 
 " I accompanied the Priest through the town over 
 much ruin and rubbish to an enclosed piece of
 
 274 NOTES. 
 
 ground, rather more elevated than any in its imme- 
 diate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb — 
 a square building of brick, of a mosque-like form, 
 with a rather elongated dome at the top. The door 
 is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, 
 very small, consisting of a single stone of great 
 thickness, and turning on its own pivots from one 
 side. Its key is always in possession of the eldest of 
 the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb 
 are two sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, 
 carved with great intricacy of pattern and richness 
 of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in 
 Hebrew, 1 '' &c. — Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, 
 vol. ii. p. 107. 
 
 Note 4.— Page 36. 
 
 A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola supported by twisted 
 columns. 
 
 The vast magnificence and elaborate fancy of the 
 tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Ori- 
 ental architecture. The Eastern nations devote to 
 these structures the richest and the most durable 
 materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchs
 
 NOTES. 275 
 
 are in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, 
 the rarest marbles are dedicated to the sepulchre and 
 the spring, which are often richly gilt, and adorned 
 even with precious stones. 
 
 Note 5. — Page 38. 
 
 The chorus of our maidens. 
 
 It is still the custom for the women in the East to 
 repair at Sunset in company to the fountain for their 
 supply of water. In Egypt you may observe at 
 twilight the women descending the banks of the Nile 
 in procession from every town and village. Their 
 graceful ^drapery, their long veils not concealing 
 their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their 
 vases, render this a most picturesque and agreeable 
 spectacle. 
 
 Note 6. — Page 53. 
 
 I describe the salty desarts of Persia, a locality 
 which my tale required, but I have ventured to in- 
 troduce here, and in the subsequent pages, the prin- 
 cipal characteristics of the great Arabian desarts — 
 the Mirage, the Simoom, the Gazelle, the Oasis.
 
 276 NOTES. 
 
 Note 7. — Page 62. 
 Jackals and martin-cat. 
 
 At night-fall, especially in Asia Minor, the lonely 
 horseman will often meet the jackals at their evening 
 prowl. Their moaning is often heard during the 
 night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the 
 most terrible and singular screams were heard at in- 
 tervals throughout the night, from a forest on the 
 opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me pro- 
 ceeded from a martin-cat, which had probably found 
 the carcass of some horse. 
 
 Note 8.— Page 67. 
 
 Elburx, or Elborus, the highest range of the 
 Caucasus. 
 
 Note 9.— Page 68. 
 A cornelian talisman covered with strange characters. 
 
 Talismans have not in any degree lost their influ- 
 ence in the East. Most that I have seen have been
 
 NOTES. 277 
 
 cut upon cornelian. A very precious one of this na- 
 ture, obtained at great cost and peril, of the most 
 celebrated Sorcerer in Cairo, lies at this moment by 
 my side. It secures to its possessor a constancy of 
 good fortune. Unfortunately its present holder is 
 the exception that proves the rule. 
 
 Note 10.— Page 70. 
 
 A circular and brazen table, sculptured with strange charac- 
 ters and mysterious figures ; near it was a couch on which 
 lie several volumes. 
 
 A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The books 
 were doubtless Sepher Happeliah, the Book of Won- 
 ders ; Sepher Hakkaneh, the Book of the Pen ; and 
 Sepher Habbahir, the Book of Light. This last un- 
 folds the most sublime mysteries. 
 
 Note.— Page 71. 
 
 Answered the Cabalist. 
 
 " Simeon ben Jochai, who flourished in the second 
 century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is called by 
 the Jews, the Prince of the Cabalists. After the
 
 278 NOTES. 
 
 suppression of the sedition, in which his master had 
 been so unsuccessful, he concealed himself in a cave, 
 where, according to the Jewish historians, he received 
 revelations, which he afterwards delivered to his 
 disciples, and which they carefully preserved in the 
 book called Sohar. His master Akibha, who lived 
 soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was the 
 author of the famous book Jesirah, quoted by the 
 Jews as of Divine authority. When Akibha was far 
 advanced in life appeared the famous impostor Bar- 
 chochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, 
 promised to deliver his countrymen from the power 
 of the Emperor Adrian. Akibha espoused his cause, 
 and afforded him the protection and support of his 
 name, and an army of two hundred thousand men re- 
 paired to his standard. The Romans at first slighted 
 the insurrection ; but when they found the insur- 
 gents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they 
 came, they sent out a military force against them. 
 At first, the issue of the contest was doubtful. The 
 Messiah himself was not taken until the end of four 
 years." — Enfield ; Philosophy of the Jews, vol. ii. 
 
 " Two methods of instruction were in use among 
 the Jews ; the one public, or exoteric ; the other
 
 NOTES. 279 
 
 secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was that 
 which was openly taught the people from the law of 
 Moses, and the traditions of the fathers. The eso- 
 teric was that which treated of the mysteries of the 
 Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was 
 known by the name of the Cabbala. The latter was 
 after the manner of the Pythagorean and Egyptian 
 mysteries, taught only to certain persons, who were 
 bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to 
 divulge it. Concerning the miraculous origin and 
 preservation of the Cabbala, the Jews relate many 
 marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from 
 Adam ; and assert, that while the first man was in 
 Paradise, the angel Rasiel brought him a book from 
 Heaven, which contained the doctrines of heavenly 
 wisdom, and that when Adam received this book, 
 angels came down to him to learn its contents, but 
 that he refused to admit them to the knowledge of 
 sacred things entrusted to him alone ; that after the 
 fall, this book was taken back into Heaven ; that 
 after many prayers and tears God restored it to 
 Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the dege- 
 nerate age before the flood, this book was lost, and 
 the mysteries it contained almost forgotten ; but they
 
 280 NOTES. 
 
 were restored by special revelation to Abraham, who 
 committed them to writing in the book Jezirah." — 
 Vid. Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219. 
 
 " The Hebrew word Cabala, 7 ' says Dom Calmet, 
 " signifies tradition, and the Rabbins, who are named 
 Cabalists, apply themselves principally to the combi- 
 nation of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the 
 means of which they boasted they could reveal the 
 future, and penetrate the sense of the most difficult 
 passages of Scripture. This science does not appear 
 to have any fixed principles, but depends upon cer- 
 tain ancient traditions, whence its name Cabala. 
 The Cabalists have a great number of names which 
 they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, 
 and affect to obtain supernatural intelligence." — See 
 Calmet, art. Cabala. 
 
 " We spake before,' 1 says Lightfoot, " of the com- 
 monness of Magick among them, one singular means 
 whereby they kept their own in delusion, and where- 
 by they affronted ours. The general expectation of 
 the nation of Messias coming when he did, had this 
 double and contrary effect, that it forwarded those that 
 belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel ; 
 and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to
 
 NOTES. 281 
 
 take upon them they were Christ, or some great pro- 
 phet, and to others it gave some persuasion to be de- 
 luded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them 
 with Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jeru- 
 salem ended, though one would have thought that 
 had been a fair term of not further expecting Mes- 
 sias ; but since the people were willing to be deceived 
 by such expectation, there rose up deluders still that 
 were willing to deceive them." — Lightfoot, vol. ii. 
 p. 371. 
 
 For many curious details of the Cabalistical 
 Magic, Vid. Basnage, vol. v. p. 384, &c. 
 
 Note 11. — Page 75. 
 Read the stars no longer. 
 
 " The modern Jews," says Basnage, " have a 
 great idea of the influence of the stars." Vol. iv. p. 
 454. But astrology was most prevalent among the 
 Babylonian Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one. 
 Living in the ancient land of the Chaldeans, these 
 sacred sages imbibed a taste for the mystic lore 
 of their predecessors. The stars moved, and formed
 
 282 NOTES. 
 
 letters and lines, when consulted by any of the high- 
 initiated of the Cabalists. This they styled the 
 Celestial Alphabet. 
 
 Note 12. — Page 85. 
 The Daughter of the Voice. 
 " Both the Talmudick and the latter Rabbins," 
 says Lightfoot, " make frequent mention of Bath 
 Kol, or Filia Vocis, or an echoing voice which served 
 under the second temple for their utmost refuge of 
 revelation. For when Urim and Thummim, the 
 oracle was ceased, and prophecy was decayed 
 and gone; they had, as they say, certain strange 
 and extraordinary voices upon certain extraordinary 
 occasions, which were their warnings and advertise- 
 ments in some special matters. Infinite instances 
 of this might be adduced, if they might be believed. 
 Now here it may be questioned, why they called 
 it Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice, and not a 
 voice itself ? If the strictness of the Hebrew word 
 Bath be to be stood upon, which always it is not, it 
 may be answered, that it is called the Daughter of a 
 Voice in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim. 
 For whereas that was a voice given from off the
 
 NOTES. 283 
 
 mercy seat, within the vail, and this, upon the decay 
 of that oracle, came as it were in its place, it might 
 not unfitly or improperly be called a daughter, or 
 successor of that voice. " — Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 
 485, 486. 
 
 Consult also the learned Doctor, vol. ii. p. 128, 
 129 : " It was used for a testimony from heaven, 
 but was indeed performed by magic art." 
 
 Note 13.— Page 97. 
 
 The walls and turrets of an extensive city. 
 
 In Persia, and the countries of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates, the traveller sometimes arrives at deserted 
 cities of great magnificence and antiquity. Such, 
 for instance, is the city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy 
 to have entered one of the deserted capitals of the 
 Seleucidae. They are in general the haunt of bandits. 
 
 Note 14.— Page 109. 
 Punctured his arm. 
 From a story told by an Arab.
 
 284 NOTES. 
 
 Note 15. — Page 115. 
 
 The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself, 
 
 I have endeavoured to paint the simoom as I 
 myself experienced it in the desarts of Upper Egypt. 
 My friend and fellow traveller, Mr. Clay, has, 
 I venture to state, not forgotten the awful day. 
 
 Note 16.— Page 119. 
 By the holy stone. 
 
 The Caaba. — The Caaba is the same to the Maho- 
 medan, as the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It 
 is the most unseemly, but the most sacred, part of the 
 mosque at Mecca, and is a small, square, stone 
 building. 
 
 Note 17.— Page 121. 
 / am a Hakim. 
 
 i. e. Physician, an almost sacred character in the 
 East. As all Englishmen travel with medicine 
 chests, the Turks are not to be wondered at for 
 considering us physicians.
 
 NOTES. 285 
 
 Note 18.— Page 123. 
 The evil eye fall on him ! 
 
 The superstition of the Evil Eye is well known, 
 and is prevalent throughout the Levant. 
 
 Note 19. — Page 126. 
 Threw their wanton jer reeds in the air. 
 
 The Persians are more famous for throwing the 
 jerreed than any other nation. A Persian gentleman, 
 while riding quietly by your side, will suddenly dash 
 off at full gallop, then suddenly check his horse, and 
 take a long aim with his lance with admirable pre- 
 cision. I should doubt, however, whether he could 
 hurl a lance a greater distance, or with greater force 
 and effect, than a Nubian, who will fix a mark at 
 sixty yards with his javelin. 
 
 Note 20.~Page 127. 
 
 Some pounded coffee. 
 
 The origin of the use of coffee is obscure; but there 
 is great reason to believe that it had not been intro-
 
 286 NOTES. 
 
 duced in the time of Alroy. When we consider that 
 the life of an Oriental at the present day mainly 
 consists in drinking coffee and smoking tobacco, we 
 cannot resist from asking ourselves, " What did he 
 do before either of these comparatively modern in- 
 ventions was discovered ?" For a long time, I was 
 inclined to suspect that tobacco might have been in 
 use in Asia before it was introduced into Europe ; 
 but a passage in old Sandys, in which he mentions 
 the wretched tobacco smoked in Turkey, and ac- 
 counts for it by that country being supplied by 
 " the dregs of our markets," demonstrates, that in his 
 time, there was no native growth in Asia. Yet the 
 choicest tobaccos are now grown on the coast of 
 Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics smoke 
 any other plant or substance before tobacco? In 
 Syria, at the present day, they smoke a plant called 
 timbac ; the Chinese smoke opium ; the artificial 
 preparations for the hookah are known to all Indians. 
 I believe, however, that these are all refinements, 
 and for this reason, that in the classic writers, who 
 were as well acquainted with the Oriental nations as 
 ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of 
 smoking. The anachronism of the pipe I have not
 
 NOTES. 287 
 
 therefore ventured to commit, and that of coffee will, 
 I trust, be pardoned. See a short Essay on Oriental 
 Smoking in the New Monthly Magazine for Septem- 
 ber, 1832, for an account of the Eastern tobaccos. 
 
 Note 21.— Page 127, 
 
 Wilder gestures of the dancing girls. 
 
 These dancing girls abound throughout Asia. 
 The most famous are the Alwyn of Egypt, and the 
 Nautch of India. These last are a caste, the first 
 only a profession. 
 
 Note 22.— Page 140. 
 
 For thee the bastinado, 
 
 The bastinado is the common punishment of the 
 East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is admi- 
 nistered on the soles of the feet, the instrument 
 a long cane or palm branch. Public executions are 
 very rare.
 
 288 NOTES. 
 
 Note 23. -Page 161. 
 A door of tortoise-shell and mother -6' -pearl. 
 
 This elegant mode of inlay, common in Oriental 
 palaces, and may be observed also in Alhambra, at 
 Granada. 
 
 Note 24.— Page 161. 
 
 A vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof, of purple, 
 scarlet, and gold* 
 
 In the very first style of Saracenic architecture. 
 See the Hall of the Ambassadors in Alhambra, and 
 many other chambers in that exquisite creation. 
 
 Note 25.— Page 162. 
 
 Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits of scarlet and gold. 
 
 Thus the guard of Nubian Eunuchs of the present 
 Pacha of Egypt, Mehemet AH, or rather Caliph, a 
 title which he wishes to assume. They ride upon 
 white horses.
 
 NOTES. 289 
 
 Note 26. — Page 162. 
 
 A quadrangular court of roses. 
 
 So in Alhambra, " The Court of Myrtles," 
 leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the fa- 
 mous Fountain of Lions. 
 
 Note 27.— Page 164. 
 An Abyssinian giant. 
 
 A giant is still a common appendage to an Ori- 
 ental court even at the present day. See a very 
 amusing story in the picturesque " Persian Sketches 1 ' 
 of that famous elchee, Sir John Malcolm. 
 
 Note 28. — Page 165. 
 
 Surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped. 
 
 " The hall of audience," says Gibbon, from Car- 
 donne, speaking of the magnificence of the Saracen 
 of Cordova, " was encrusted with gold and pearls, 
 and a great basin in the centre was surrounded 
 with the curious and costly figures of birds and quad- 
 rupeds." — Decline and Fall, vol. x. p. 39. 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 290 NOTES. 
 
 Note 29 Page 166. 
 
 A tree of gold and silver. 
 
 " Among the other spectacles of rare and stupen- 
 dous luxury, was a tree of gold and silver, spreading 
 into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the 
 lesser boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same 
 precious metals, as well as the leaves of the tree. 
 While the machinery effected spontaneous motions, 
 the several birds warbled their natural harmony." — 
 Gibbon, vol. x. p. 38. from Abulfeda, describing 
 the court of the Caliphs of Bagdad in the decline of 
 their power. 
 
 Note 30.— Page 167. 
 
 Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds, with collars 
 of gold and rubies. 
 I have somewhere read of an Indian or Persian 
 monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gor- 
 geous style : if I remember right, it was Mahmoud 
 the Gaznevide. 
 
 Note 31.— Page 168. 
 A steed marked on its forehead with a star. 
 The sacred steed of Solomon.
 
 NOTES. 291 
 
 Note 32.— Page 170. 
 
 Instead of water, each basin was replenished with the purest 
 quicksilver. 
 
 " In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one of those 
 basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate, 
 was replenished, not with water, but with the purest 
 quicksilver." — Gibbon, vol. x. from Cardonne. 
 
 Note 33.— Page 171. 
 Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds. 
 
 Moslemin of rank are never without the rosary, 
 sometimes of amber and rare woods, sometimes of 
 jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiar sub- 
 stance called Mecca wood. 
 
 Note 34 Page 172. 
 
 The diamond hilt of a very small poignard. 
 
 The insignia of a royal female. 
 
 o 2
 
 Q9% NOTES. 
 
 Note 35.— Page 182. 
 You have been at Paris. 
 
 Paris was known to the Orientals at this time as a 
 city of considerable luxury and importance. The 
 embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne at 
 an earlier date, is of course recollected. 
 
 Note 36.— Page 196. 
 
 At length beholds the lost capital of his fathers. 
 
 The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of 
 Olives. It is little altered since the period when 
 David Alroy is supposed to have gazed upon it, but 
 it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built 
 by the Moslemin conquerors on the supposed site of 
 the temple, and which, with its gardens, and arcades, 
 and courts and fountains, may fairly be described as 
 the most imposing of Moslemin fanes. I endea- 
 voured to enter it at the hazard of my life. I was 
 detected, and surrounded by a crowd of turbaned 
 fanatics, and escaped with difficulty ; but I saw 
 enough to feel that minute inspection would not belie
 
 NOTES. 293 
 
 the general character I formed of it from the Mount 
 of Olives. I caught a glorious glimpse of splendid 
 courts, and light airy gates of Saracenic triumph, 
 flights of noble steps, long arcades, and interior 
 gardens, where silver fountains spouted their tall 
 streams amid the taller cypress. 
 
 Note 37— Page 197. 
 Entered Jerusalem by the gate of Sion. 
 
 The gate of Sion still remains, and from it you 
 descend into the valley of Siloa. 
 
 Note 38.— Page 204. 
 King Pirgandicus. 
 According to a Talmudical story, however, of 
 which I find a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew 
 but a Gentile, and a very wicked one. He once 
 invited eleven famous doctors of the holy nation to 
 supper. They were received in the most magnificent 
 style, and were then invited, under pain of death, 
 either to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to 
 drink wine consecrated to idols. After long con-
 
 294. NOTES. 
 
 sultation, the Doctors, in great tribulation, agreed to 
 save their heads by accepting the last alternative, 
 since the two first were forbidden by the law of 
 Moses, and the last only by the Rabbins. The King 
 assented, the Doctors drank the impure wine, and, as 
 it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as 
 will sometimes happen, created a terrible appetite ; 
 the table was covered with dishes, and the Doctors, 
 heated by the grape, were not sufficiently careful 
 of what they partook. In short, the wicked King 
 Pirgandicus contrived that they should sup off 
 pork, and being carried from the table quite tipsey, 
 each of the eleven had the mortification of finding 
 himself next morning in the arms of a Pagan mistress. 
 In the course of the year all the eleven died sudden 
 deaths, and this visitation occurred to them, not 
 because they had violated the law of Moses, but 
 because they had believed that the precepts of the 
 Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity than 
 the word of God. 
 
 Note 39.— Page 204. 
 And conquered Julius Ccesar. 
 
 This classic hero often figures in the erratic pages 
 of the Talmud. 

 
 NOTES. 295 
 
 Note 40 — Page 205. 
 
 The Tombs of the Kings. 
 
 The present pilgrim to Jerusalem will have less 
 trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of the 
 Kings, though he probably would not as easily obtain 
 the sceptre of Solomon. The tombs that bear this 
 title are of the time of the Asmonean princes, and of a 
 more ambitious character than any other of the re- 
 mains. An open court about fifty feet in breadth, 
 and extremely deep, is excavated out of the rock. 
 One side is formed by a portico, the frieze of which 
 is sculptured in a good Syro- Greek style. There is 
 no grand portal ; you crawl into the tombs by a 
 small opening on one of the sides. There are a few 
 small chambers with niches, recesses, and sarco- 
 phagi, some sculptured in the same flowing style as 
 the frieze. This is the most important monument at 
 Jerusalem; and Dr. Clarke, who has lavished won- 
 der and admiration on the tombs of Zachariah and 
 Absalom, has announced the Tombs of the Kings as
 
 296 NOTES. 
 
 one of the marvellous productions of antiquity. But 
 the truth is, all that we see of art in Jerusalem is 
 of the most mean and contemptible character, exhibit- 
 ing not the slightest feeling for the beautiful or the 
 grand, and not for a moment to be mentioned with 
 the creations of a neighbouring country. It is of 
 course out of the question to speak of the pyramids 
 of Memphis, and the obelisks of Heliopolis, the tem- 
 ples of Karnak, and the palaces of Luxoor, the gi- 
 gantic cavern fanes of Ipsambul, the imaginative 
 Dendera, and the refined Philae : but it is not too 
 much to say, that there are in many Egyptian 
 towns, to which the satiated traveller cannot spare a 
 parting glance, more surprising monuments than in 
 all Jerusalem together ; ranges of painted sepulchres, 
 in finitely more striking, from their extent and beauty, 
 than the Tombs of the Kings ; and relics of temples 
 which must have cost more time and treasure than the 
 whole valley of Jehosaphat.
 
 NOTES. 297 
 
 Note 41. — Page 207, 
 
 " Rabbi Hillel was one of the eminentest that ever 
 was among the Jewish Doctors, both for birth, learn- 
 ing, rule, and children. He was of the seed of David 
 by his mother's side, being of the posterity of She- 
 phatiah, the son of Abital, David's wife. He was 
 brought up in Babel, from whence he came up to 
 Jerusalem at forty years old, and there studied the 
 law forty years more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, 
 and after them he was President of the Sanhedrim 
 forty years more. The beginning of his Presidency 
 is generally concluded upon to have beeen just one 
 hundred years before the Temple was destroyed : by 
 which account, he began eight-and-twenty years be- 
 fore our Saviour was born, and died when he was 
 about twelve years old. He is renowned for his 
 fourscore scholars." — Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 2008. 
 
 The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their 
 controversies, and the fierceness of their partizans, are 
 a principal feature of Rabbinical history. They 
 were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last 
 the Bath Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but
 
 298 fc NOTES. 
 
 in a spirit of conciliatory dexterity. " The Bath 
 Kol came forth and spake thus : — c . The words both 
 of the one party and the other are the words of the 
 living God, but the certain decision of the matter is 
 according to the decrees of the school of Hillel. 
 And from henceforth, whoever shall transgress the 
 decrees of the school of Hillel is guilty of death.' " 
 
 Note 42.— Page 212. 
 
 A number of small, square, low chambers. 
 
 These excavated cemeteries which abound in Pales- 
 tine and Egypt were often converted into places of 
 worship by the Jews and early Christians. Sandys 
 thus describes the Synagogue at Jerusalem in his 
 time. 
 
 Note 43. — Page 213. 
 
 Their heads mystically covered. 
 
 The Hebrews cover their heads during their 
 prayers with a sacred shawl.
 
 NOTES. 299 
 
 Note 44. — Page 214. 
 Expounded the law to the congregation of the people. 
 
 The custom, I believe, even to the present day 
 among the Hebrews, a remnant of their old acade- 
 mies, once so famous. 
 
 Note 45.— Page 216* 
 
 The Valley ofJehosaphat and the Tomb of Absalom. 
 
 In the Vale of Jehosaphat, among many other 
 tombs, are two of considerable size, and which, al 
 though of a corrupt Grecian architecture, are digni- 
 fied by the titles of the Tombs of Zachariah and 
 Absalom. 
 
 Note 46.— Page 221. 
 The scanty rill of Siloah. 
 
 The sublime Siloah is now a muddy rill; you 
 descend by steps to the fountain which is its source, 
 and which is covered with an arch. Here the blind
 
 300 NOTES. 
 
 man received his sight ; and singular enough, to this 
 very day the healing reputation of its waters pre- 
 vails, and summons to its brink all those neighbour- 
 ing Arabs who suffer from the ophthalmic affections 
 not uncommon in this part of the world. 
 
 Note 47.— Page 221. 
 Several isolated tombs of considerable size. 
 
 There are no remains of ancient Jerusalem, or 
 the ancient Jews. Some tombs there are which 
 may be ascribed to the Asmonean princes ; but all 
 the monuments of David and Solomon, and their 
 long posterity, have utterly disappeared. 
 
 Note 48.— Page 225. 
 
 Are cut strange characters and unearthly forms. 
 
 As at Benihassan, and many other of the sculp- 
 tured catacombs of Egypt. 
 
 Note 49. — Page 226. 
 A crowd of bats rushed forward and extinguished his torch. 
 
 In entering the Temple of Dendera, our torches 
 were extinguished by a crowd of bats.
 
 NOTES. 301 
 
 Note 50 Page 226. 
 
 The gallery is of great extent, with a gradual declination. 
 So, in the great Egyptian tombs. 
 
 Note 51.— Page 229. 
 
 The Af rite, for it was one of these dread beings. 
 
 Beings of a monstrous form, the most terrible of 
 all the orders of the Dives. 
 
 Note 52.— Page 230. 
 
 An avenue of colossal lions of red granite. 
 
 An avenue of Sphinxes more than a mile in 
 length connected the quarters of Luxoor and Carnak 
 in Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many 
 other avenues of Sphinxes and lion-headed Kings 
 may be observed in various parts of Upper Egypt.
 
 302 NOTES. 
 
 Note 53 Page 233. 
 
 A stupendous portal cut out of the solid rock, four hundred 
 feet in height, and supported by clusters of colossal Caryatides. 
 
 See the great rock temple of Ipsambul in Lower 
 Nubia. The sitting colossi are nearly seventy feet 
 in height. But there is a Torso of a statue of Ra- 
 meses the Second at Thebes, vulgarly called the 
 great Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty 
 feet round the shoulders. 
 
 Note 54.— Page 236. 
 Fifty steps of ivory, and each one guarded by golden lions. 
 
 See 1st Kings, cap. x. 18—20. 
 
 Note 56.— Page 261. 
 
 Crossed the desart on a feet dromedary. 
 
 The difference between a Camel and a Drome- 
 dary is the difference between a hack and a tho- 
 rough-bred horse. There is no other.
 
 NOTES. 303 
 
 Note 57.— Page 264. 
 That celestial alphabet known to the true Cabalist. 
 See former note. 
 
 BSD OF VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 liOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STP.AND.
 
 
 
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